Assessing Moral Judgements in Veterinary Students: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study from Germany

Abstract

Although veterinary ethics is required in veterinary curricula and part of the competencies expected of a trained veterinary surgeon according to the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE), knowledge concerning the effects of ethics teaching and tools evaluating moral judgement are scarce. To address this lack of tools with a mixed-methods approach, a questionnaire with three case scenarios presenting typical ethical conflicts of veterinary practice was administered to two groups of veterinary students (one had taken ethics classes, one did not). The questionnaire contained both open-ended and closed questions and was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative part aimed at revealing different argumentation patterns between the two groups, whereas the quantitative part focused on the students’ approval of different roles and attitudes possibly relating to veterinarians. The results showed no major differences between both groups. However, answering patterns suggest a clear diversity among the students in their perception of morally relevant factors and the veterinary profession. Awareness of morally challenging elements of their profession was presented by students of both groups. With this exploratory study, the application of an innovative mixed-methods tool for evaluating the moral judgement of veterinary medical students is demonstrated.

“What If It Was Your Dog?” Resource Shortages and Decision-Making in Veterinary Medicine—A Vignette Study with German Veterinary Students

“…For a detailed description of the complete study, please see [ 32 ]. The survey was pilot tested among members of the institute (veterinarians, agricultural scientists, and philosophers) and modified according to their feedback.…”

“…In particular, teaching in ethics was implemented. As part of this project, Germany’s only professorship for applied ethics in veterinary medicine was established in 2015 and corresponding teaching content was integrated into the curriculum [ 32 ]. The education in veterinary ethics at the TiHo is not only theory-based, but is also in the form of the concept of “critical guidance” [ 33 ].…”

“…The here presented vignette study was part of a survey on ethical judgements among veterinary students at the TiHo in their fourth year. They had the opportunity to attend all ethics lectures, seminars, and block courses that were established in the new curriculum (for more details on the ethics curriculum see [ 32 ]).…”

“…The aim of the vignette study was, firstly, to investigate the participants’ skills to identify stakeholders and the ethical conflict, as well as the patterns of their decision-making and justifications. For a more detailed discussion of the classification of different attitudes among our participants, see [ 32 ]. Secondly, the focus of this particular vignette was on their reactions to an unconventional problem and to the challenge of personal involvement.…”

Animal Welfare Considerations and Ethical Dilemmas Inherent in the Euthanasia of Blind Canine Patients

“…Sharing the thought of Rollin [ 37 ], in our opinion, a significant part of animal welfare is ethics, given that it influences an individual’s concept of welfare, even if other Authors believe that animal welfare science is not interchangeable with or a synonym of animal ethics [ 38 ]. In this context, ethics would prescribe the veterinarian’s course of action in terms of the blind animal’s welfare as well as the rights/obligations/welfare of the owner.…”