University of Illinois

College of Veterinary Medicine

Outcomes Assessment Report

December 3, 1998

Submitted by the ad hoc Outcomes Assessment Committee

G. J. Pijanowski, Chair

D. Bunick

N. Diamond

J. C. Eurell

D. E. Freeman

J. E. Hixon

J. B. Messick

A. J. Paul

D. D. Sisson

Introduction to the Report

The Outcomes Assessment Report is divided into four sections:

Section 1. Outcomes Assessment Plan for the College of Veterinary Medicine (Page 2). The plan was approved by the University of Illinois Outcomes Assessment Committee.

Section 2. Outcomes Assessment Survey Report (Page 4).

Section 3. Objective Measurements of Student Outcomes (Page 55):

Section 4. Survey instruments for the Class of 1998, alumnae/alumni (Classes of 1993, 1995 and 1997), employers and faculty. (not available in HTML format)

Section 1: Outcomes Assessment Plan for the College of Veterinary Medicine

Process used in developing the plan. The outcomes assessment process for the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine (UICVM) was developed by an ad hoc Outcomes Assessment Committee (OAC). The committee was charged with overseeing the administration of the UICVM outcomes assessment program and satisfying the accreditation guidelines of the American Veterinary Medical Association Council of Education (AVMACOE) on outcomes assessment and curricular review. In developing the outcomes assessment plan, the OAC relied on several sources of information on assessment in the health sciences, including Academic Medicine: Assessment Measures in Medical School, Residency and Practice: The Connection (vol 68, Number 2, 1993), Symposium on Outcomes Assessment in Veterinary Medical Education (May 17-18, 1993), The AAVMC/AVMA Outcomes Assessment Sourcebook (April, 1993), and the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. The assessment plans for the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine also proved to be valuable resources.

Desired learning outcomes. In its report to the faculty, the OAC noted that the reason for conducting the assessment program is to improve the quality of the educational programs within the College, which include the professional (DVM) curriculum, graduate education and post-DVM education. The Committee recommended that the initial assessment be of the professional curriculum because of its importance to the College and because the College is due for an accreditation visit by the AVMACOE in 1999. The goals of the professional curriculum are to graduate licenced veterinarians that are prepared to enter a clinical practice that deals with any of the common domestic animals and/or a postgraduate education related to veterinary medicine.

Measurement instruments/techniques. The Outcomes Assessment Committee recommended the following objective measures:

Drop out/retention rates--annual summary

Grades--annual summary by class

National Board Examination--summary report

Clinical Competency Test--summary report

Employment summary by graduating class

Faculty student ratios--summarized annually

Student debt

Surveys of the following groups with similarly constructed instruments, which are designed to assess the vertical integration of information, were recommended:

1993, 1995 and 1997 graduates

Employers of 1993, 1995 and 1997 graduates

Senior students

Faculty

Process for using the results. The survey instruments will be analyzed. A report will be prepared and distributed to the faculty, the Courses and Curriculum Committees (departmental and college), Planning Committee, department heads, and college administration. Information in the report will be integrated with information from an internal review of the curriculum, which also is structured to assess the vertical integration of information. Collectively, this information will be used to establish priorities within the college and to suggest modifications of the professional (DVM) curriculum. The results also will assist in the construction of subsequent surveys and the structure of an ongoing internal review of the curriculum.

Timetable for implementation. The objective measures are data tracked by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. The surveys will be mailed on May 15, 1998, with a return date of June 15. One follow-up mailing will be sent shortly after the June 15 deadline to encourage a response from non-respondents with a new deadline for return of July 15. A final report will be issued early in 1999. Plans are to repeat the assessment program on a three-year cycle.

Section 2: Outcomes Assessment Survey Report

Introduction

A survey of faculty, alumnae/alumni (Classes of 1993, 1995 and 1997), graduating seniors (Class of 1998), and employers of UICVM graduates was conducted to evaluate the quality of education in the professional program at UICVM. All survey groups were asked to rate the importance of veterinary medical education to provide formal instruction in selected topics and to rate the quality of the education provided by the UICVM in these same topics. Faculty, alumni and VM-4 students were asked to rate the quality of education provided in the basic sciences, pathobiology, internal medicine and surgery for specified organ systems or areas of emphasis. These three groups were also asked to evaluate the quality of senior rotations and the amount of time allotted to each rotation. A different input was sought from employers who were asked to rate the clinical competence of their employees in the same organ systems or areas of emphasis that other groups were asked to evaluate. Open ended questions were also provided to all four groups to seek further information on the benefits and limitations of UICVM. Both quantitative and qualitative analyzes were conducted on completed surveys.

Sample Characteristics

There were a total of 316 responses to the survey, including 66 faculty (69% of those surveyed), 115 alumni (49% of those surveyed), 76 graduates from the Class of 1998 (87% of those surveyed), and 59 employers (66% of those surveyed). There was an even distribution of respondents among the Classes of 1997, 1995 and 1993 (32%, 33% and 34%, respectively). Data for the three classes were combined and are referred to as alumni. More alumnae (69%) and female 1998 graduates (69%) completed the survey than their male counterparts, which reflects gender makeup of recent classes. The majority (90%) of employers who responded to the survey were male, and 59% had been in private practice for over 20 years. The gender difference between recent graduates and employers reflects the change in the gender demographics of the veterinary profession. Information on gender was not requested within the faculty survey.

Ninety-six percent of alumni and graduating senior respondents are, or at some point in time plan to be, employed full time as practicing veterinarians in private practices that service predominantly small animals (Figure 1). However, 24% of the alumni respondents and 19% of the Class of 1998 respondents indicated that they plan to complete or have completed some type of post-graduate program (Figure 2). The majority of the alumni reported their annual salary to be between $30,000 and $49,000 per year, including benefits and before taxes, which is consistent with what the majority of respondents from the Class of 1998 believe they will make (Figure 3). The mean ± standard deviation incomes for the Classes of 1993, 1995 and 1997 respondents were $44,737 ± $16,817, $32,571 ± $12,500 and $30,000 ± $15,675, respectively.

The majority of employer respondents are from a private practice that services predominantly small animals (Figure 1) and 71% graduated from the UICVM. The number of UICVM graduates that they have hired ranges from 0 to 7 or more with the highest percentage (31%) of employers having hired 3 or 4 graduates. Most of the employer respondents stated that the average tenure of their UICVM employees is 3 to 4 years (38%).

Faculty respondents were from administration (11%), Veterinary Biosciences (28%), Veterinary Clinical Medicine (40%), Veterinary Pathobiology (20%) and the Laboratories of Veterinary Diagnostic Medicine (2%). All levels of faculty ranks responded with 20% representing assistant professors, 32% representing associate professors, 46% representing full professors and 2% representing visiting assistant, associate or full professors. The majority of the faculty respondents were satisfied (52%) or very satisfied (18%) with their current position (Figure 4), and 38% have been involved in the education of veterinary medicine students for 20 or more years (Figure 5).

Averages of estimates of the number of hours for activities related to professional programs for all groups can be found in Appendix A (page 50).

Importance and Quality of Education in Selected Topics

Four-point Likert-type survey questions were administered to assess the views of faculty, alumni, graduating seniors and employers on the importance of providing formal education in selected topics. Possible choices were not important, fairly important, important and critical. Also, survey questions asked respondents to rank the quality of education at UICVM for these topics. The four possible choices were marginal to poor, fair, good, and excellent.

Two of the selected topics were diagnosis and treatment of diseases and implementation of appropriate medical treatments, which are primary objectives of the professional program. The American Veterinary Medical Association Counsel on Education has emphasized the importance of epidemiology and food safety, and these items were included in the list. Respondents were also requested to assess the importance of formal education in and the quality of education at UICVM related to: knowledge of medical ethics, business management, time management, interpersonal/client relations, how to relate to patients, animal behavior, development of the problem solving and critical thinking behaviors, the behavior that leads to life long learning, and the management of scientific and technical information. With few exceptions, the majority of alumni, graduating seniors and faculty respondents agreed on the importance of providing formal education in the specific areas outlined in the preceding paragraph and the quality of education provided by UICVM.

A majority (more than 50%) of respondents in all four groups ranked diagnosis and treatment of disease (Figure 6) and implementation of appropriate treatments (Figure 7) as critical elements in veterinary medical education. The quality of the education received by all groups was considered to be good, although a higher percentage of employers rated the quality of education in these essential areas as excellent than did the other groups.

Education in epidemiology and food safety is considered to be under represented in veterinary education. The majority of respondents in all four groups rated formal education in these topics as fairly important to important (Figures 8 and 9). The majority of respondents in the employer group rated the education received by UICVM graduates in epidemiology as good, while most of the respondents in the faculty, alumni and VM-4 groups rated the quality of education at UICVM as either good or fair (Figure 8). A slightly higher percentage of faculty rated the education of food safety as good, rather than fair, while most of the respondents in the other three groups rated this area as fair (Figure 9).

Most of the respondents in all four groups agreed that medical ethics was an important element in the education of veterinary students (Figure 10), with a higher percentage of faculty and employers rating it as critical than alumni or VM-4's. The majority of employers felt that the education their employees received in medical ethics was good or excellent. More faculty, alumni and VM-4 students were of the opinion that the education in medical ethics was fair rather than good or excellent.

Often discussed topics are whether or not business management, animal behavior or interpersonal/client relations should be included in the curriculum. Most of the respondents in all four groups agreed that teaching business management skills was an important facet of veterinary medical education (Figure 11). A high percentage of faculty (61%), alumni (86%) and graduating seniors (84%) rated the quality of education in business management skills as marginal to poor. Employers were more generous with 37% and 48% rating the quality of education as marginal to poor and fair, respectively.

Slight differences existed among the majority of respondents in the four groups regarding the importance of providing formal education in the area of animal behavior (Figure 12). A slightly higher percentage of faculty respondents rated this aspect of veterinary education as fairly important, rather than important, the majority of respondents in the other three groups rated this area as important. On the other hand, the majority of employers rated the education of their employees as fair or good.

Differences exist among the four groups regarding the importance of providing formal education in interpersonal communications/client relations (Figure 13). The majority of alumni and employer respondents felt that this topic was critical, while most of the faculty and graduating senior respondents felt that was important. The majority of employers rated the education received by UICVM graduates in this area as good. More faculty, alumni and VM-4 students rated the education in client relations as fair than as good.

A majority of alumni and employer respondents felt that formal training in rapport with patients was a critical aspect of veterinary education, but most of the faculty and graduating senior respondents felt that this topic was important. The majority of employers rated the education received by UICVM graduates in this area as good (Figure 14). The majority of faculty were split between ratings of fair and good. More alumni and VM-4 respondents rated their education in this area as fair than as either marginal to poor or as good.

There was general agreement among the four groups that time management skills were fairly important or important aspects in the education of veterinary students (Figure 15). However, a majority of faculty, alumni and VM-4 respondents felt that the education received by UICVM graduates in this areas was marginal to poor, while the responses from the employer group were distributed among marginal to poor, fair, and good.

The majority of all four groups felt that problem solving and critical thinking were critical elements in the education of veterinary students (Figure 16). Mixed ratings were received with regard to the quality of the education at UICVM. Most of the alumni and employers rated it as good, and most of the faculty and graduating seniors rated it as fair.

The majority of faculty and employer respondents agreed that the development of behavior that leads to life-long learning was an important aspect of veterinary education (Figure 17), and alumni and VM-4 students were divided between rating the importance as fairly important and important (Figure 17). Most of the faculty, alumni and VM-4 respondents rated the emphasis placed on life-long learning at UICVM as fair. The majority of employers felt that the quality of education at UICVM that leads to life-long learning was good.

Management of scientific and technical information was rated as important by most of the respondents in all four groups (Figure 18). The majority of employers rated the education received by their UICVM employees as good, compared to the other three groups in which most of the respondents rated this as only fair.

Quality of Education by Organ Systems

Faculty, alumni and graduating seniors were asked to rank the quality of education in the basic sciences, pathobiology, internal medicine and surgery for the nervous system, special senses, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, kidney and fluid balance, musculo-skeletal system, monogastric digestive system, ruminant digestive system, metabolism and nutrition, endocrine system, reproductive system, integumentary system and hemo-lymphatic system. Employers were asked only to rank the overall competency of their UICVM graduates in the same organ systems/areas of emphasis. Possible responses were marginal to poor, fair, good, and excellent.

Basic Sciences

The highest percentage and often the majority of faculty, alumni and VM-4 groups rated the quality of education in the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculo-skeletal, monogastric digestive, ruminant digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and integumentary systems as good, as was the case for kidney and fluid balance (Figures 21 through 30). However, ratings for the nervous system (Figure 19), special senses (Figure 20), and metabolism and nutrition (Figure 28) tended to be somewhat lower in that respondents from the three groups were split between fair and good. While the majority of faculty and alumni respondents rated the quality of education in the hemo-lymphatic system as good (66% and 63%, respectively), the majority of the graduating senior respondents were split in their rating, with an equal percentage (44%) of respondents choosing fair and good (Figure 31).

Pathobiology

The ratings for the quality of education in the biology of the disease process by faculty, alumni and graduating seniors was similar to that for the basic sciences. The highest percentage or majority of respondents ranked the education in pathobiology as good, with the exception of the nervous system (Figure 19), special senses (Figure 20), and metabolism and nutrition (Figure 27). Approximately equal percentages of the three groups rated the quality of education for the nervous system and special senses as fair and good. While the majority of alumni and VM-4 groups were split between fair and good for metabolism and nutrition, faculty rankings were distributed among marginal to poor, fair and good.

Internal Medicine

The ratings for internal medicine were similar to those for the basic sciences and pathobiology. The highest percentage or majority of respondents ranked the education in internal medicine as good, with the exception of the nervous system (Figure 19), special senses (Figure 20), and metabolism and nutrition (Figure 27). While the highest percentage of faculty respondents rated the quality of education in the nervous system as good (49%), the highest percentage of alumni and VM-4 rated their education as fair (45 and 52%, respectively). The majority of alumni and VM-4 respondents were split between fair (33 and 39%) and good (47 and 42%) in their evaluation of the special senses. On the other hand, the majority of the faculty respondents rated education in the special senses as good (56%). The quality of education in metabolism and nutrition in internal medicine was also rated lower than other organ systems/areas of emphasis because the highest percentage of respondents in all three groups rated this area as fair (42% of faculty, 47% of alumni, and 55% of graduating seniors).

Surgery

The highest percentage of respondents from all three groups surveyed ranked the quality of education in surgery as good for the musculo-skeletal, monogastric digestive, ruminant digestive, reproduction and integumentary systems. However, alumni and graduating seniors tended to rank their education in surgery for the special senses, nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine and hemo-lymphatic systems somewhat lower than faculty and lower than their evaluations in basic sciences, pathobiology and internal medicine. Thus, the majority of faculty respondents rated surgical education for the nervous system (Figure 19) as either fair (37%) or good (44%), while the majority of alumni and graduating senior respondents rated this area as either marginal to poor (60% and 45%) or fair (32% and 45%). The majority of faculty rated surgical education with regard to the special senses (Figure 20) as either good (42%) or excellent (26%), but the majority of alumni and VM-4 respondents rated their education as either marginal to poor (32% and 38%) or fair (41% and 46%). Similarly, the majority of faculty respondents rated surgical education for the cardiovascular system (Figure 21) as fair (38%) or good (38%) and the majority of alumni and VM-4 respondents rated their education as either marginal to poor (44% and 34%) or fair (41% and 49%). Alumni and VM-4's tended to rate their surgical education related to the respiratory system as either marginal to poor (37% and 32%) or fair (46% and 45%). On the other hand, the majority of the faculty felt that education in this area was good (53%). Ratings for the endocrine (Figure 28) and hemo-lymphatic (Figure 31) systems were similar in that the highest percentage of alumni and VM-4 students ranked their surgical education as fair, and the faculty were evenly split between fair and good. Several alumni and graduating seniors commented on the need for more hands-on surgical experiences (Table 9, page 45), which may offer a partial explanation for their somewhat lower ratings.

Employer Evaluations of Clinical Competency.

Employers were asked to rate the overall quality of their UICVM graduates' clinical competence in the same organ systems/areas of interest that faculty, alumni and VM-4 students were asked to evaluate. Without exception, the majority of employers rated the competency of UICVM graduates as good, which indicates that this group is of the opinion that the education in all organ systems is acceptable.

Senior Rotations

Faculty, alumni and graduating seniors were asked to rate senior rotations on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Possible responses were poor, marginal, fair, good, and excellent. Respondents were then asked to evaluate the time allotted to each rotation on a 3-point Likert type scale. Possible responses included too much, just right, and too little. With a few exceptions, the highest percentage or majority of all respondent groups rated the quality of senior rotations as good and the time spent on the rotations as just right (Figures 32 through 45). The Anesthesiology (Figure 32), Food Animal Medicine and Surgery (Figure 35), Theriogenology (Figure 36), and Cardiology/Dermatology (Figure 44) rotations are notable because they received excellent ratings of over 20%, when the ratings were based on the total response of all three groups. Moreover, the percentage of alumni and VM-4 respondents that rated the Theriogenology rotation as excellent approached the percentage of these groups that rated the rotation as good.

When evaluating the time allotted to the Small Animal Surgery rotation (Figure 37), the majority of faculty respondents (64%) felt that the time allotted was just right. Alumni and graduating seniors were divided in their opinion, with 58% of alumni and 49% of VM-4's indicating that the time allotted was too little and 41% and 47% of alumni and VM-4's, respectively, indicating the time allotted was just right. There were several comments by alumni and graduating seniors expressing the concern that there was too little hands-on experience during this rotation, and this concern may have been expressed by indicating too little time was allotted.

Graduating seniors rated their experience in the Small Animal General rotations slightly lower than did faculty or alumni. A higher percentage of faculty and alumni rated the overall quality of the Small Animal General rotations as good rather than as fair (Figure 38). Graduating seniors were divided in their opinion, with 39% rating the quality as fair and 39% rating the quality as good. A similar pattern was observed for the Community Practice rotation (Figure 39).

Disagreement among the groups in the time allotted to the Community Practice rotation is indicated by the fact that 60% of faculty rated it as just right versus 37% who rated it as too little. On the other hand, 52% of alumni indicated that too little time was allotted while 40% felt the time was just right. Graduating seniors were divided in their opinion, with equal percentages (47%) rating it as too little and just right. These distributions may reflect written comments by alumni and VM-4's indicating, as they phrased it, more time should be allotted to working with "real world" rather than referral cases.

Another disagreement among respondent groups is indicated by the fact that 50% of faculty respondents felt the quality of the Neurology/Oncology rotation was good, but only 37% of the alumni respondents and 17% of the graduating senior sample felt the quality of this rotation was good. Thirty three percent of alumni and 38% of the graduating seniors felt this rotation was only fair, and 38% of seniors rated the quality of this rotation either as poor or marginal. Several of the respondents commented on their surveys that while the Oncology rotation was good, the Neurology rotation was not.

Overall Quality of the Education within the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

The overall quality of the education within the professional curriculum of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine was evaluated by the survey in several ways. One survey question actually asked faculty, alumni and graduating seniors to rate how well the educational experience at UICVM prepared graduates for an entry-level veterinary position. Secondly, employers were asked to rate the clinical competence of their UICVM graduate employees with regard to specific organ systems/areas of emphasis. Third, integer values (scale scores) were assigned to the faculty, alumni and VM-4 evaluations of the quality of education by organ system for basic sciences, pathobiology, internal medicine and surgery. Scale scores were also assigned to the evaluations of the clinical rotations. The scale scores were used to conduct multivariate and univariate analyzes of varience (ANOVA) to detect differences in the average rating given by respondents. Finally, free response survey items were administered requesting information on the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the benefits and limitations of a UICVM education.

Faculty, alumni and graduating seniors were asked to rank the quality of education at UICVM as preparation for an entry-level veterinary position. The choices were poor/marginal, fair, good and excellent. A majority (58 to 66%) of respondents for the three groups ranked the education at UICVM as good. It is interesting that the ratio between ratings of fair and excellent for alumni was approximately two to one, but this ratio for graduating seniors was on the order of nine to one. It is possible that the attitude of UICVM graduates may improve once they enter practice or other post-graduate endeavors.

Employers opinion of their employees is an important factor in evaluating the overall quality of the education within the UICVM. When asked to evaluate the clinical competence of their UICVM employees by organ systems/areas of emphasis (Figures 19 to 31), without exception, a majority rated their employee's competence as good.

To get a broad picture of how faculty and student respondents felt about the general educational experience, average scale scores were computed for faculty, alumni and VM-4's by pooling the responses for all organ system/areas of emphasis within basic sciences, pathobiology, internal medicine, and surgery. The integer values assigned were one for a response of marginal to poor, two for fair, three for good and four for excellent. Average scale scores were then used to conduct a multivariate ANOVA, using group (faculty, alumni, or graduating seniors) as the independent variable and the four mean scale scores for the areas of basic science, pathobiology, internal medicine, and surgery as the dependent variables. Because the sample sizes in each of the three groups were unequal, Type III sums of squares were used. When tested, a significant difference in the variance among the groups was not detected.

The MANOVA results proved to be significant with Wilk's Lambda = 6.4 (p < 0.001). Mean values are summarized in Table 1. Univariate pair-wise comparisons indicated that faculty and graduating seniors tended to rate education in the basic sciences lower than alumni (p = 0.05 and 0.01, respectively). No statistically significant differences were found in overall ratings in the area of pathobiology. The average ratings for internal medicine by faculty were higher than ratings by alumni (p = 0.03) and graduating seniors (p = 0.03). Faculty also rated the overall quality of education for surgery higher than alumni and graduating seniors (p < 0.001). It should be noted that the large sample size, the tight distribution of variances and the small numerical differences among means make interpretation of the importance of the statistically significant differences problematic.

Univariate ANOVAs of scale scores were conducted to examine differences among faculty, alumni and graduating seniors in their evaluation of the quality of and time allotted to the senior rotations (Table 2). Integer values were assigned to the ratings, with five for excellent, four for good, three for fair, two for poor and one for marginal. As above, responses for faculty, alumni and VM-4's were pooled for each respondent group. When scoring the items measuring time allotted to senior rotations (Table 3), a score of three was assigned if too much time was chosen, two if just enough time was chosen, and one if not enough time was chosen.

No significant differences were found in the mean scale scores for the three groups in the quality of senior rotations. However, graduating seniors (p = 0.02) and alumni (p = 0.001) had lower overall scores than faculty when scale scores of time allotted to rotations were evaluated. The same caveats noted above apply when evaluating whether the differences are meaningful.

Open-Ended Responses to Survey Questions

There was a good response to the open-ended questions. Because there were identifiable and similar themes among the responses, the number and percentage of the total number of comments for each theme were determined by respondent group. Since many comments incorporated more than one theme, the total number and percentage reported in the following tables will exceed the total number of comments and 100%, respectively. It is interesting to note that some themes contradict each other and data from earlier sections of the report.

Faculty Responses Faculty were asked to comment on the greatest strengths of the UICVM professional curriculum and some of the limitations of the UICVM professional curriculum. Thirty-eight (58%) faculty respondents commented on the strengths of the curriculum, and 42 (64%) commented on the limitations of the professional curriculum. The themes noted in the comments are summarized in Tables 4 and 5.

Verbatim comments on the strengths of the professional curriculum include: "Good, general, broad-based education." "Broad, high quality education in basic sciences and exposure to all major domestic species (except poultry) in the clinical years. Generally well informed and highly motivated faculty across all years. In general, the instructional infrastructure (classrooms, projection systems, networks) are state of the art and clinical areas (imagery, surgery, anes.) are rapidly becoming so." "Great clinical exposure. Large number of cases. Apart from first two years, a pleasant experience."

Verbatim comments on the limitations of the curriculum include: "Lack of adequate state financial support for faculty and grad teaching associate positions." "Animal behavior. Lack of DVMs in Biosciences. Business and management practices." "1) Sensory overload. 2) WAY, WAY, WAY too much information from the periphery of veterinarian medical knowledge is crammed down their throats, to the point that it subverts the basic information needed to be a competent general practitioner. 3) Students desiring to become specialists can obtain that information during internships and extra education. 4) We use students as technicians to do menial tasks instead of treating them as colleagues!"

Faculty were also asked why are you satisfied or why not are you not satisfied with your current position. Thirty-nine (59%) of faculty respondents commented on the degree of their satisfaction or dissatisfaction and common themes are summarized in Table 6 and 7.

Verbatim comments include: "Strong administrative support." "Too many expectations of me with inadequate time to enable me to do an outstanding job in each, primarily due to lack of staff (academic) in area and being requested to do administrative (non-clinical, non-teaching) functions." "I am satisfied with my day to day job - direct responsibilities - but have become increasingly frustrated with administration in the college and the attitude towards faculty needs, department needs, and faculty governance." "Good interactions with colleagues. Wide variety of experiences (research, teaching, committee work) keep life exciting. Enjoy student teaching. But job is very demanding - not enough time for quality family life."

Alumni and VM-4

Alumni and graduating seniors were asked what did you benefit most from your education at UICVM, and what are the greatest strengths of UICVM. There were many themes that were identical for both questions and for alumni and VM-4s. The themes for both groups are summarized in Table 8.

¹ Number of responses for each theme
² Calculated on the basis of a total of 81 comments by alumni and 38 comments by VM-4 respondents.
³ Calculated on the basis of a total of 80 comments by alumni and 37 comments by VM-4 respondents.

Verbatim comments by alumni include: "I think the entire program at UICVM is excellent. I have been associated with numerous students from other colleges in my residency, and I find that no one is better prepared than U of I graduates. Besides the academic training, the social life was second to none. My life-long friends are my best benefit!" "The actual hands-on experience with surgical and medical cases very valuable." "Well rounded in both surgery and medicine, small and large animal." "I do not know if U of I would even consider 'tracking' but I would urge against it. As a small animal surgeon now, I am grateful that I have at least learned about food animal and equine veterinary medicine and have a solid medicine background. U of I produces well rounded veterinarians." "Training in the basic sciences was thorough and, in the majority of cases, well-taught."

Verbatim comments by graduating seniors include: "Clinical rotations, especially on small animal rotation in which we were required to communicate with clients daily." "The personal attention on clinics." "Good strong foundation of basic sciences. Excellent clinical faculty. Non-tracked system. Students get experience in small animal and large animal." "Facilities and equipment. Caseload. Reputation."

Alumni and VM-4's were also asked what could UICVM have done to better prepare you and what are some of the limitations of UICVM. The same themes were observed in the comments for both questions and are summarized in Table 9.

¹ Number of responses for each theme.
² Calculated on the basis of a total of 100 comments by alumni and 55 comments by VM-4 respondents.
³ Calculated on the basis of a total of 82 comments by alumni and 42 comments by VM-4 respondents.

Verbatim comments from alumni include: "Concentrate more on the 'common' things. I understand that at a referral hospital you receive a lot of unusual cases and it is good to be exposed to that. However, you should teach (concentrate) on the things vets will face daily and how to treat it and diagnose it when you do not have access to every test and piece of diagnostic equipment available on the market." "Tracking would be nice for people who strictly want small vs. large animal and those for mixed should keep the current classroom. This would allow people to spend more time in the field they are going to deal with after graduation. No big need for large animal only to deal with all those small animal rotations and vice versa." "Teaching both large and small animal medicine to all students severely limits the proficiency a student can attain in either. From my experience in small animal practice, I have found knowledge of behavior and animal training essential. I would urge you to incorporate this into veterinary training. I developed my surgical skills at externships, as 'humane society' animals were unavailable during my surgery rotation. During my education at U of I spayed 1 ½ animals (including jr. sx and sr. rotations), this hardly prepared me to confidently spay an animal on my own. Sr. rotation hands-on experience seems to be dominated by interns and residents, allowing senior students to rarely act as more than technicians. In some cases, urgency and skill are critical factors where it is understandable a student would be asked to step aside. However, I feel overwhelmingly students are denied these experiences simply because interns and residents wish to refine their own skills. I never intubated a cat or placed an IV catheter in a cat at school. These are very basic common and routine procedures I certainly should have had the opportunity to perform." "Senior students are basically 'glorified technicians'. I spent more time cleaning cages, picking up feces, and writing useless SUHP's than anything else."

Verbatim comments from graduating seniors include: "Provide more clinical experience in the junior year. Spend more time teaching procedures (catheter placement, fluid therapy decisions and set up) before entering clinical education. Then more time could be spent learning diagnostic treatment. Implement tracking so those interested in small vs. large animal medicine can learn more in their respective fields."  "More critical thinking, problem-based learning. More surgery experience - basic procedures. More feedback and working towards improvement. More clinics!" "Teachers, teachers, teachers. Even if someone likes to teach and wants to teach does not mean they are even remotely a good teacher. Teaching is not just lecturing, but giving the students chances to perform, succeed and fail. People learn better if they can do what they have read. Let us try, let us do, let succeed and fail in our effort, then we will become better students and veterinarians."

Employers

One open ended question asked of employers was would you hire UICVM graduates again. Thirty-two employers (55%) commented and of these 26 respondents (81%) indicated they would hire UICVM graduates again because of their competency. Another 5 respondents (16%) indicated that they would hire UICVM graduates again, but they need more practical experience. Three respondents (9%) indicated that they would not hire UICVM graduates because they are incompetent or exhibit unethical (stealing, cheating) behavior. Verbatim comments include: "The graduates have all been well trained and/or learn quickly. All have been an asset to the practice." "We have been satisfied with the education received by U of I students. All new graduates, however, require about a year of schooling when entering a practice situation." "The next employee I hire will have to have more practical experience and a better work ethic." "I am considering not hiring any students from Illinois. The last four students that have worked for my clinic have shown poor ethics (lying, lack of trust, dishonesty). Ethics, fairness, and honesty are important individual attributes that I am looking for when I hire an associate. There is a great deal of sharing in the medical care of an animal and it is important for me to have trust in a associate veterinarian. Something has happened with the ethics, fairness, and honesty of new graduates since I have graduated in 1970."

Employers were asked what are the greatest strengths of UICVM, and 45 (76%) of the employers gave their views. Twenty-three employers (50%) commented that UICVM graduates are competent veterinarians. Thirteen (29%) indicated that UICVM is a good referral institution. The quality of the faculty and facilities or equipment available was indicated in 9 (20%) and 14 (31%), respectively, of the comments. The quality of the CEPS programs and activities of the Associate Dean for Development were mentioned in 4 (9%) of the comments. Verbatim comments include: "Appears to prepare students well for clinical challenges. Seems to lack in surgery, however. Great facility to refer cases to." "Good support on referrals; good extension system. New grads very knowledgeable in diagnostics and treatments." "I have been very pleased with all my interactions with the staff. I think they all do a good job. Dr. Small will always be one of the UICVM's greatest assets. He is a great role model for students."

Finally, employers were asked what are some of the limitations of the UICVM, and 42 (71%) of the employers expressed their views. Of these, 19 (45%) indicated that the graduates needed more hands-on, real-life clinical experience, and 4 (10%) indicated that graduates need more surgical skills. Lack of business management, ability to interact with clients, or knowledge of animal behavior was noted in 8 (19%) of the comments. Five employers (12%) indicated that UICVM graduates are lacking in ethical behavior or the work ethic. Verbatim comments include: "Hands on clinical experience seems to be limited, especially in recent graduates. Common sense management skills lacking." "Behavior. Business of veterinary medicine, charging for services, staff. Nutrition." "Surgical training is poor. Inability to correctly read urinalysis via cytology of renal cell analysis. Ethics, fairness, honesty, lying stealing leading to a lack of trust for sharing of medical and surgical care of animals." "Need to prepare vet students for realities of practice - perhaps set up extern programs in Chicago's larger hospital hospitals. Prepare students for economics of practice and how to manage their own money. Emphasize from day one that veterinary medicine is a life-long commitment - not a 9 to 5 job. Isolation from Chicago's - i.e. transportation lack for referral cases."

Survey-indicated Weaknesses in the Curriculum

1. The ratings were low for the quality of education at UICVM for medical ethics, business management, animal behavior, interpersonal/client relations, rapport with patients, time management, problem solving and critical thinking, development of behavior that leads to life-long learning and management of technical information by alumni and VM-4 students, and to some extent faculty.

2. The ratings for the nervous system, special senses and metabolism and nutrition in the basic sciences, pathobiology, and internal medicine appear to be lower than for other organ systems/areas of emphasis.

3. Several alumni and graduating seniors expressed concern about their surgical training in their written statements. Their evaluation of their education in surgery for some organ systems was lower than that of the faculty and lower than that for basic sciences, pathobiology and internal medicine. Alumni and VM-4 students also felt that the time allotted to the Small Animal Surgery rotation was too little. Comments to open-ended questions indicated that these groups felt like there was not enough hands-on experience or that their cases during the Small Animal Surgery rotation did not prepare them for commonly encountered problems in practice.

4. Several alumni and graduating seniors expressed dissatisfaction with their senior rotations in their written responses to open-ended questions, and some of the statements had bitter overtones. Complaints included dissatisfaction with one or more rotations, condescending or malevolent attitude by some of the clinical faculty, not enough exposure to cases encountered in private practice, not enough hands-on clinical experience and the need for more hands-on surgical experience.

Other Observations

1. Formal courses related to medical ethics, animal behavior, rapport with patients, time management, problem solving and critical thinking, development of behavior that leads to life-long learning and management of technical information are not offered within the professional curriculum. However, most of these topics are addressed directly or indirectly throughout the curriculum. Electives are offered for business management and interpersonal/client relations, but they are available only to a limited number of students.

2. VM-4 and alumni respondents raised concerns related to their training in small animal surgery. However, the highest percentage of alumni and VM-4 respondents rated the quality of the Small Animal Surgery rotation as good. These contradictory findings warrant further evaluation.

3. Evaluations of the quality of the senior rotations generally were good. However, dissatisfaction with senior rotations was expressed by a number of alumni and graduating seniors. Further evaluation of the objectives and structure of the rotations will be necessary to resolve this discrepancy.

4. There was a tendency for all responding groups not to use the excellent rating.

5. There was a tendency for employers to rank the quality of education that their employees received higher than the other groups.

Survey-indicated Strengths of the Curriculum

1. A majority of faculty, alumni and graduating seniors were of the opinion that the education at UICVM did a good job of preparing its graduates for an entry-level veterinary position.

2. A majority of faculty, alumni and graduating seniors rated the quality of education related to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and the implementation of appropriate medical treatments as good. Employers were split between good and excellent.

3. Education in the organ systems/areas of emphasis in basic sciences, pathobiology and internal medicine generally received ratings of good by a majority or the highest percentage of faculty, alumni and graduating seniors.

4. A majority of employers rated the clinical competency of their UICVM employees as good for all of the organ systems/areas of emphasis surveyed.

5. Ninety-one percent of the employers indicated that they would hire UICVM graduates again.

Acknowledgments

The Outcomes Assessment Committee greatly appreciates Dr. Cindy Walker's role in compiling and analyzing the data from the survey instruments. Dr. Walker also prepared a Technical Report, which formed the basis of this document. The contributions of Dr. John Ory and Dr. Cheryl Bullock from the Center for Teaching Excellence to the construction of the survey instruments also is appreciated. In addition, the Outcomes Assessment Committee is gratefully acknowledges the role that Dr. Bullock played in maintaining the confidentiality of the respondents by acting as a clearinghouse for the receipt of survey instruments.

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