Advancing the ‘One Health’ workforce by integrating ecosystem health practice into veterinary medical education: The Envirovet Summer Institute

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess whether the Envirovet programme served to increase the number of practising ecosystem health professionals, as well as to measure the lasting professional and personal impact of the programme on participants. Design: Impact programme evaluation. Setting: An emerging strategy among global health programmes is to promote ‘One Health’ – namely, the understanding that human, animal and environmental health are inextricably linked – as a unifying framework of coordinated education, research and practice. Established in 1991, the Envirovet Summer Institute was created to increase worldwide knowledge and capacity of veterinary medicine students and practitioners to support ecosystem health as a critical component of the One Health approach. Method: A semi-structured questionnaire was electronically administered to past programme participants. Results: The majority of respondents (65 of 88, 74%) indicated that they had held an ecosystem health employment position since their participation in Envirovet. The reach of Envirovet went beyond participants’ own experiences, by influencing local organisations, programmes, colleagues, family and friends. Furthermore, Envirovet reportedly inspired past participants to make environmentally conscious lifestyle choices and spurred them to make changes professionally, including guiding on-the-job decisions and strengthening network contacts. Conclusion: Envirovet offers an established example of One Health training. Additional educational programmes might usefully include One Health principles coupled to a comparable evaluation plan to establish a larger, more comprehensively trained and increasingly effective global health workforce.

Developing a Global One Health Workforce: The “Rx One Health Summer Institute” Approach

“…For veterinary students, a number of experiential short courses have been developed to expand their knowledge, skills, and mentors in OH topic areas, such as AQUAVET ® , MARVET, CONSERVET, and the Envirovet Summer Institute which ran from 1991 to 2010 (Conrad et al 2009 ; Gilardi et al 2004 ; Schwind et al 2016 ). In medical schools, international clinical rotations have been associated with a deeper appreciation for global public health issues and cross-cultural competencies; yet still relatively few (24%) US medical students participate in global health experiences, and this number has been on the decline (Drain et al 2007 ; AAMC 2019 ).…”

Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks—Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases

“…He urged students to take courses in ecology, conservation biology, epidemiology, environmental toxicology, risk assessment, environmental law, environmental chemistry, statistics, and modeling. In 1991, the Universities of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota established the Envirovet Program in Wildlife and Ecosystem Health (Gilardi et al, 2004; Schwind et al, 2016). With other universities, U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Health Environmental Effects Research Laboratory's Mid-Continent Ecology Division, they provided courses that integrated aquatic animal health with ecotoxicology, ecological monitoring, disease diagnostics, engineering, law, economics, and the conservation of endangered species.…”

Assessment of Awareness Level on Zoonotic Diseases of Medicine Faculty and Veterinary Medicine Faculty Students in Bursa Uludağ University

“…4 Tek sağlık konsepti kapsamında gerekli olan disiplinler arası kapasitenin ortaya konulabilmesi için eğitim, çok önemli bir araç olarak nitelendirilmekte, tıp ve veteriner fakültelerinde öğrencilerin alması gereken eğitimin önemine vurgu yapılmaktadır. 27 Kaliforniya Pomona'da bulunan Western Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi bünyesinde yer alan veteriner, tıp, hemşirelik gibi değişik sağlık disiplinlerinde eğitim gören öğrenciler, diğer sağlık profesyonellerini daha iyi anlamayı sağlamak, hasta bakımı ve sağlık yönetiminde takım çalışmasını sağlamak ve teşvik etmek amacıyla küçük gruplar hâlinde vaka tartışmaları yapılan disiplinler arası bir eğitim müfredatına katılarak ortak eğitim için güzel bir model oluşturmuşlardır. 28…”