Exploring how end‐of‐life management is taught to Australasian veterinary students. Part 1: technical euthanasia

Abstract

This descriptive study explored how end-of-life management was taught to students in all eight Australasian veterinary schools. A questionnaire-style interview guide was used by a representative at each university to conduct structured interviews with educators in a snowball sampling approach. Four categories of animals were addressed: livestock, equine, companion and avian/wildlife. This article focuses on the first part of the questionnaire: teaching the technical aspects of euthanasia. Euthanasia techniques were taught at more universities in clinical years than preclinical years. Clinical teaching relied on opportunities presenting, for example, euthanasia consultations. Few universities gave students a chance to practise euthanasia during a consultation and those that did were all with livestock. Competency in euthanasia techniques is an important aspect of clinical practice and these findings can be used to inform curriculum reviews of veterinary training.

How management of grief associated with ending the life of an animal is taught to Australasian veterinary students

“…Proactive teaching is beneficial in that students may be better prepared for situations when they arise, and do not have to rely on educators recognising the need for it to be taught 43,44 . Additionally, this method of teaching ensures all students are taught how to deal with grief, rather than just those opportunistically exposed to clinical cases needing grief management discussions 7,32,43,44 .…”

“…For full details of the data collection process, see Littlewood, Beausoleil, Stafford, Stephens, Collins, Fawcett, Hazel, Lloyd, Mallia, Richards, Wedler and Zito 32 . Briefly, a questionnaire was developed and first used to guide interviews with participants at Massey University in New Zealand.…”

“…Full details of the interview guide design and implementation are given in a previous publication 32 . Questions were asked about four main categories of animals: 1 Livestock: cattle, sheep/goats, deer, pigs, llamas/alpacas; 2 Equine: horses, donkeys; 3 Companion animals: cats, dogs, small mammals (e.g.…”

“…Our larger study aimed to explore how aspects of EoL management were taught to veterinary students in all eight Australasian veterinary schools. In Littlewood et al 32 we explored how technical EoL management was taught. We found that euthanasia techniques were taught at more universities in clinical years than pre-clinical years and outlined the importance of veterinary competency in the technical skills necessary to perform animal euthanasia.…”

Impacts of the process and decision‐making around companion animal euthanasia on veterinary wellbeing

“…Prior research and publications have begun to contribute to this area, 4 20 21 and more comprehensive guidelines are emerging 6 22 . However, authors of these guidelines and other research 18 19 23 24 also acknowledge the need for more research to further inform evidence‐based recommendations, guidance and education around euthanasia‐related care.…”