Examining Why Ethics Is Taught to Veterinary Students: A Qualitative Study of Veterinary Educators' Perspectives

Abstract

Although it is widely agreed that veterinary students need to be introduced to ethics, there is limited empirical research investigating the reasons why veterinary ethics is being taught. This study presents the first extensive investigation into the reasons for teaching veterinary ethics and reports data collected in semi-structured interviews with educators involved in teaching undergraduate veterinary ethics at three European schools: the University of Copenhagen, the University of Nottingham, and the Technical University of Lisbon (curricular year 2010-2011). The content of the interview transcripts were analyzed using Toulmin's argumentative model. Ten objectives in teaching veterinary ethics were identified, which can be grouped into four overarching themes: ethical awareness, ethical knowledge, ethical skills, and individual and professional qualities. These objectives include recognizing values and ethical viewpoints, identifying norms and regulations, developing skills of communication and decision making, and contributing to a professional identity. Whereas many of the objectives complement each other, there is tension between the view that ethics teaching should promote knowledge of professional rules and the view that ethics teaching should emphasize critical reasoning skills. The wide range of objectives and the possible tensions between them highlight the challenges faced by educators as they attempt to prioritize among these goals of ethics teaching within a crowded veterinary curriculum.

Knowledge and opinions of veterinary students in Italy toward animal welfare science and law

“…Some authors strongly suggest that veterinary ethics should be taught as part of the AW curriculum (Main 2010, Morton and others 2013); however, the link between the concept of welfare and ethics seems to be essential. For example, ‘ethical awareness’ can be achieved by introducing topics such as animal suffering and quality of life (Magalhães-Sant'Ana and others 2014) as belonging to the definition of AW, but an ethical approach could help in deciding whether euthanasing an animal is not only an AW issue (Yeates and Main 2011). From our results, Italian veterinary students appear quite confident with their personal knowledge about AW, especially in the north of the country.…”

When care is defined by science: Exploring veterinary medicine through a more‐than‐human geography of empathy

“…In a review of European veterinary codes of conduct, Magalhães‐Sant'Ana et al. () notes how the current RCVS CPC better encompasses animal issues, evidenced in its supporting guidance on euthanasia and tail docking. Despite the inclusion of formal animal law in this CPC and views that professional guidance is increasingly zoo‐centric, it is important to explore how the RCVS CPC can be seen to constrain the spatialities of animal care and ethics while promoting newly detached forms of professionalism.…”

“…What marks out the occupational responsibilities of the vet for geographical consideration is the profession's inherently multi‐species function. While it may be obvious that vets provide medical assistance to animals as a distinct category of being, the contract of care in fact extends beyond this two‐way relationship to involve a wide range of stakeholders, including family, clients and disciplinary bodies (Magalhães‐Sant'Ana et al., ). Spatially, a vet's jurisdiction can involve clients’ homes, laboratories, operating theatres and courts of law.…”

It’s Not About Ethical Dilemmas: A Survey of Bavarian Veterinary Officers’ Opinions on Moral Challenges and an e-Learning Ethics Course

“…Academically, the discipline of veterinary ethics is still young. Although ethical reflection about veterinary medicine is becoming more and more established (Dürnberger et al 2018;Springer and Grimm 2017;Weich and Grimm 2018;Magalhães-Sant'Ana and Hanlon 2016;Magalhães-Sant'Ana et al 2014), the discipline cannot build on such a tradition as, for example, medical ethics. Furthermore, the focus, especially of empirical surveys following a descriptive approach to ethics (Scarano 2006;Lesch 2006), seems to be on veterinary practitioners and veterinary students (Clarke et al 2017;Hartnack et al 2016;Verrinder and Phillips 2014;Quinn et al 2012), while veterinary officers have received comparatively little academic attention.…”