Sue Dawson, University of Prince Edward Island

Using electronic portfolios to promote students’ engagement with outcomes-based assessment provides a forum for students to reflect on their learning, and document plans for continued growth. This presentation focuses on how electronic portfolios were implemented and shares video recorded interviews of students and faculty documenting the uses of outcomes-based assessment beyond measuring student performance.   

Lori Kogan, Colorado State Unviersity

This session will discuss the process of developing, implementing, and evaluating a cumulative Capstone exam in the Professional Veterinary Medical (PVM) Program at one US University.  A cumulative Capstone Exam was implemented in our PVM program in order to help students better prepare for entry into the clinics and for the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE) exam. Several factors convened to create the impetus needed to focus efforts toward the development of this large endeavor. One factor was a dip in the school’s NAVLE pass rate. Discussions pertaining to possible strategies to bolster students’ knowledge, and subsequently their NAVLE performance, led us to consider various options for test preparation and larger-scale curriculum reform. In addition, several faculty expressed concerns about students’ preparation level for their clinical year. It was questioned whether students were adequately retaining key concepts from the pre-clinical years. Many faculty felt that students, in fact, did not maintain the amount of knowledge necessary to best benefit from their clinical experiences. In an effort to find a solution, we looked towards the licensure process in the human medical field and used the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) as an initial model. Initial analysis found a strong correlation between student performance on the Capstone and class rank; students ranked in the lower 25% of their class had the most difficulty with this preparatory exam. Another development stemming from this exam was the opportunity to review the curriculum; address deficiencies/redundancies and integrate material across program years. This conference session is designed with the intention of sharing our experiences related to the Capstone in order to facilitate conversation among those with similar experiences and ultimately coming away with new ideas or strategies for Capstone design and implementation.

9:50 AM – 10:10 AM    Break

 

10:10 AM – 11:05 AM    Incorporating Cultural Competency Education in Veterinary Medicine Colleges: Why and How?

Linda Alexander, University of Kentucky

This session will include a brief overview of the history and development of core competencies for utilization in medical school and public health graduate curriculum and provide parallel examples for veterinary medicine schools. This conference session will provide clear examples of how to strategically incorporate culturally relevant content into existing coursework without compromising subject matter content. Session participants will also be introduced to suggested assessment tools in order to best gauge students’ progress toward culturally competent practice and professionalism.

 

11:05 AM – 12:00 PM    How To Construct and Incorporate a Script Concordance Test to Assess Clinical Reasoning Skills