Supporting Positive Learning Experiences for Veterinary Students on Rotations in Remote Indigenous Communities in Canada

Abstract

Many healthcare programs in medicine, nursing, social work, and physiotherapy include practicum rotations near the end of students’ studies. Increasingly, veterinary education programs also offer community-based rotations in underserved or remote communities. While these opportunities in veterinary medicine provide many learning benefits, they can also be stressful if the students do not feel adequately supported. The purpose of this study was to explore how veterinary students are and can be supported during rotations in remote Indigenous communities in Canada. Annually, four veterinary students from the University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine travel with a small veterinary team to five communities in the Northwest Territories, Canada. During the 4-week rotation, students spend 2.5 weeks providing veterinary services to companion animals in these communities. In this study, 11/20 veterinary students who participated in this rotation between 2015 and 2020 completed online surveys. Results from this study suggest that participants of the rotation often felt welcomed and supported by the communities they served and were well supported by and connected to the members of the veterinary team. Findings are applicable across community-based veterinary student learning experiences and highlight the importance of building relationships with the communities being served, picking the right team, and implementing debriefing and decompressing activities during downtime.