From dental care for dogs to course development, future veterinarians at Adtalem are helping improve how they learn to be caring healthcare providers.
If you have a dog more than two years old, there’s an 87% chance your furry companion has periodontitis. Gum disease in dogs and other small animals causes more than bad breath. It can lead to pain, tooth loss, and problems with major organs like the heart and kidneys.
The scale of the problem makes dental skills crucial for veterinarians and their patients. Clinics expect newly hired veterinary graduates to perform dental work on day one.
It’s all laid out in a recent scientific paper by Dr. James Fairs, faculty member at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (“Ross Vet”) and his colleagues. The paper details research done with Ross Vet students to determine how best to prepare them for the dental needs of clinics and their patients.
"The Evaluation of a High-Fidelity Simulation Model and Video Instruction Used to Teach Canine Dental Skills to Pre-Clinical Veterinary Students,” Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Veterinary Medical Education: Challenges and Perspectives.
says Dr. Fairs. “The basic skills associated with small animal dentistry are not especially challenging if they are taught effectively and appropriately.”
Their research asks, which is better to aid instruction: videos or highly accurate simulated dogs?