TITLE:
Z-Xaloc: A Strategy to Train Communication Skills in Veterinary Studies
AUTHORS:
Carmelo Ortega, Leticia Alcalá, Mari Carmen Simón
KEYWORDS:
Preventive Medicine, Competencies, Communication Skills, Decision Making, Veterinary Studies
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.9 No.6,
June
24,
2022
ABSTRACT: Z-Xaloc is a proposal of practical activities designed to improve communication, a part of the non-technical skills necessary for professionalism, in veterinary students. It has been implemented into the official program for Zoonoses and Preventive Medicine subject along with the last course of the Veterinary degree at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). Z-Xaloc is focused on training communication and decision-making ability under the umbrella of preventive medicine contents and knowledge handling. Although non-technical skills have been identified as important components of the Veterinary Professional Identity (VPI) and are a social demand to the veterinary professionals, it is common they are poorly trained during their veterinary studies. Z-Xaloc proposal involves a diverse range of people playing different roles along with the activities: from students to health professionals, farmers and consumers. In all the activities, veterinary students are the primary addressees of the training process. Non-students, inside and outside the university, are the secondary addressees of the activities. The activities of Z-Xaloc are mainly supported under a “teamwork” strategy and “problem-based learning” (PBL) methodology. Various “real health-care cases” adapted under a PBL structure are the nexus between veterinary students and the non-student people involved. An assessment of the proposal indicates that both the communication and decision-making ability of veterinary students have been enhanced and also contributions to social education from the people involved have been applied. Students indicated, by the way of questionnaires and meetings with the responsibility for the proposal, that it effectively contributed to them acquiring non-technical competencies necessary for veterinary professionals, while non-student evaluations revealed that their educational interactions with veterinary students were highly positive.