Texas Tech vet school column: A clinical year journey
It’s finally here! The moment we as veterinarians, students, faculty, staff and many others have all been waiting and anticipate coming to fruition. May 2024 marks a very important milestone for Texas Tech University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. It is now, and forever forward, the month third-year veterinary students complete their pre clinical curricular work and transition into the final year of the program.
The fourth and final year is unlike any other across the nation. It affords students a labyrinth of opportunities that combine benefits from the way traditional and non-traditional educational models are delivered. We refer to it as a hybrid, community-based program which is delivered in a clinical learning network. The network is a collection of veterinary activities that immerse students in a combination of hands-on, real-life, private veterinary practice, faculty-led clinical practice, school-led clinical education, and focused animal programs. Exposing students to the speed and intensity of private practice while blending the speed of learning and mentorship are the goals of the program. Our purpose is to graduate practice-ready veterinarians that can benefit rural or regional communities, especially those that may be at distance from any referral center. These experiences and the people involved are key to the success of that goal.
Students participate in a full 52-week year broken into four-week blocks. Each month students rotate throughout the state in over 80 veterinary practices that have partnered with the school. They are located across the entire state from Brownsville to Dalhart and from Crockett to El Paso. The practices include small animal, large animal, mixed species, food animal, equine and specialty practice focus. For one of their required clinical year rotations, each student will participate in a four-week rotation within a rural veterinary practice. This opportunity will forge the student’s understanding of professionals in smaller rural communities.
The network of partnering veterinary practices is deeply connected with the school. Each practice has a veterinarian who is an adjunct professor, and all have participated in clinical year onboarding, educational and feedback training, and together deliver over 20 clinical course offerings from the School of Veterinary Medicine. Many of the practices have been with the school over four years and are eager for the opportunity to train clinical year students. These wonderful partners are truly the heartbeat of the clinical year. Students also will be rotating through the campus in Amarillo with many students at local practices where some of our faculty are engaged, lead rotations, or support the practice in their clinical educational efforts.
The impact of students in our local and regional area will be palpable, and many communities have found ways to support the students and the program. There are just 62 students in our inaugural class and almost every community in Texas is looking for a veterinarian to hire. Encourage one if you see one. Support one if you meet one and congratulate them on their work as they launch into the final year. This inaugural class will put a firm stamp on what a “RaiderVet” is and forever will be.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Texas Tech vet school column: A clinical year journey
