Veterinary Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions About Antimicrobial Stewardship and Biosecurity—A National Survey

Abstract

A better understanding of veterinary students’ perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about antimicrobial stewardship and biosecurity could facilitate more effective education of future veterinarians about these important issues. A multicenter cross-sectional study was performed by administering a questionnaire to veterinary students expected to graduate in 2017 or 2018 in all Australian veterinary schools. Four hundred and seventy-six of 1246 students (38%) completed the survey. Many students were unaware of the high importance of some veterinary drugs to human medicine, specifically enrofloxacin and cefovecin (59% and 47% of responses, respectively). Fewer than 10% of students would use appropriate personal protective equipment in scenarios suggestive of Q fever or psittacosis. Students expected to graduate in 2018 were more likely to select culture and susceptibility testing in companion animal cases (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.33–2.69, p < 0.001), and were more likely to appropriately avoid antimicrobials in large animal cases (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.26–2.44, p = 0.001) than those expected to graduate in 2017. However, 2018 graduates were less likely to correctly identify the importance rating of veterinary antimicrobials for human health (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.34–0.67, p < 0.001) than 2017 graduates. Students reported having a good knowledge of antimicrobial resistance, and combating resistance, but only 34% thought pharmacology teaching was adequate and only 20% said that teaching in lectures matched clinical teaching. Efforts need to be made to harmonize preclinical and clinical teaching, and greater emphasis is needed on appropriate biosecurity and antimicrobial stewardship.

Knowledge of Antimicrobial Resistance among Veterinary Students and Their Personal Antibiotic Use Practices: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Sakeena et al [30] reported that senior pharmacy students demonstrated a significantly better understanding of antibiotics and AMR when compared to junior pharmacy students in Sri Lanka. This is also similar to the findings of Hardefeldt et al [25] in a national survey of Australian veterinary students. It can be inferred that greater exposure to the prudent use of antimicrobials during clinical teaching in the final year of veterinary school may lead to greater awareness and perceptions of AMR [25].…”

“…This is also similar to the findings of Hardefeldt et al [25] in a national survey of Australian veterinary students. It can be inferred that greater exposure to the prudent use of antimicrobials during clinical teaching in the final year of veterinary school may lead to greater awareness and perceptions of AMR [25]. Efforts should also be intensified to expose veterinary students in Nigeria to AMR concepts in the preliminary years of their training.…”

“…However, less than half (47.4%) of the participants agreed that they have sufficient knowledge on antibiotic use for future clinical practice. Some Australian veterinary students similarly opined that more education is needed in veterinary pharmacology [25]. Surveyed medical students in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States of America have also demonstrated the need for more education on AMR [29,[35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…Inadequate exposure of veterinary students to the concept of AMR could affect their practice of drug administration and management after graduation [22][23][24]. Satisfactory knowledge levels of veterinary students on personal antibiotic administration (self-consumption), in addition to their perceptions, attitude, and knowledge of AMR could enhance their practice behaviors [8,25].…”

Dosing equine antimicrobials: Ensuring clinical success and avoiding antimicrobial resistance

“…In addition, students in the final 2 years of study in Australia self‐identified good knowledge of antimicrobial pharmacology (Hardefeldt et al . 2018c), although similar data are not available for other jurisdictions. Thus, it seems unlikely that inappropriate university teaching is the primary reason for underdosing of antimicrobial agents in equine and bovine practice.…”