Identifying the Needs of Veterinary Students and Recent Alumni in Establishing a Student Service Center

Abstract

Quality service for students has been identified as an important theme of higher education. In pursuing the aim of service quality, educational providers have long recognized that perceptions of service transcend the area of quality teaching and encompass the students' overall experience within the university. This article investigates the types of services that would be most beneficial to students, from the perspective of both current students and recent alumni. A cross-sectional survey of all students was conducted using an online survey. A separate survey was also conducted of alumni from the last five graduating classes. From these surveys, 94.0% of student respondents and 91.9% of alumni respondents strongly agreed with the statement "It is important for the OSU CVM (Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine) to provide on-site comprehensive student services." Both groups ranked job postings for post-graduation employment, fourth-year off-site rotation opportunities, and financial planning/budgeting among their top ranked preferred services. In addition, requests for continued or enhanced interviewing/communication skills training; individual mental, emotional, and spiritual counseling; and individual and group tutoring were predominant themes identified from the qualitative data as well as the Likert-scale questions. The findings from the study sheds light on the need for comprehensive services for veterinary students beyond those services traditionally provided in an academic setting, such as tutoring and course advising.

Veterinary Professions Advising Center: an innovative approach to preveterinary advising for Animal Science students

“…A study completed on professional veterinarians’ mental health in 2018 reported that the primary and secondary reasons for mental health concerns in the average professional veterinarian were student debt and financial stress ( Volk et al, 2018 , 2020 ). While some veterinary colleges are aware of this concern and offer financial planning to DVM students, it is increasingly important to ensure that undergraduate preveterinary students understand how to realistically address the financial burden that a DVM can become ( Lord et al, 2013 ). To proactively address these concerns, ANS 281 incorporates financial planning into the curriculum.…”