Final Report 2011 Veterinary pharmacology curriculum renewal to improve graduate outcomes and public safety Lead institution: The University of Queensland Partners: Australian Veterinary Association Chapter of Veterinary Pharmacology Charles Sturt University James Cook University Massey University (NZ) Murdoch University The University of Melbourne The University of Sydney Authors: Associate Professor Paul Mills Dr Stephen Page Dr Amanda Craig Website: http://vcpn.moodlesites.com/login/index.php Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Limited, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd. This work is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial‐ShareAlike 3.0 Australia Licence. 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Requests and inquiries concerning these rights should be addressed to the Learning and Teaching Excellence Branch, GPO Box 9880, Sydney NSW 2001 Location code N255EL10 or through [email protected] 2011 ISBN 978-0-642-78187-1 [PRINT] 978-0-642-78188-8 [PDF] 978-0-642-78189-5 [RTF] Contents Abbreviations Used ......................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 2 Project Outcomes and Impacts ....................................................................................... 3 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 Rationale ............................................................................................................. 4 Approach and Methodology ................................................................................. 5 Resource Builder ................................................................................................. 6 IT Management sub-committee ........................................................................... 6 Outcomes ....................................................................................................................... 7 Dissemination ................................................................................................................. 8 (1) Steering committee newsletters. .................................................................. 8 (2) Attendance at OIE World Veterinary Education conference. ........................ 8 (3) Presentation to Australian Veterinary Dean’s Committee. ............................ 8 (4) Presentation to Australian Veterinary Association annual conference. ......... 8 (5) Functionality of the VCPN website ............................................................... 8 (6) International collaborators ........................................................................... 8 Linkages ......................................................................................................................... 9 Evaluation ....................................................................................................................... 9 References ................................................................................................................... 12 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 13 Appendix 1: First steering committee meeting – minutes ................................... 13 Appendix 2: Newsletter 1 – November 2009 ...................................................... 17 Appendix 3: Newsletter 2 – March 2010 ............................................................ 19 Appendix 5: VeNom coding for term lists ........................................................... 23 Appendix 6: Second steering committee meeting – minutes .............................. 25 Appendix 7: Day One Competencies ................................................................. 28 Appendix 8: VCPN Formulary ............................................................................ 68 Appendix 9: Case development outline .............................................................. 91 Appendix 10: International symposium .............................................................. 95 Abbreviations Used ACVSc Australian College of Veterinary Scientists ADE Adverse Drug Events AVDC Australian Veterinary Dean’s Committee AVA Australian Veterinary Association CVP Chapter of Veterinary Pharmacology EQUELLA Digital repository and database LMS Learning Management System Moodle Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment OIE World Organisation for Animal Health RVC Royal Veterinary College SALG Student Assessment of Learning Gain VCPN Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology Network WIMBA Online software package for converting Word to online content Veterinary pharmacology curriculum renewal to improve graduate outcomes and public safety 1 Executive Summary Veterinary clinical pharmacology is a dynamic and rapidly changing discipline, with new therapeutic agents and information constantly being produced. The challenge for veterinary science students and, indeed, for graduated veterinary clinicians, is to maintain knowledge and successfully prescribe and apply appropriate agents to a variety of animal species. The aim of the current project was therefore to provide a renewable knowledge base of veterinary clinical pharmacology and utilise a problem-based approach to aid understanding and practical application of therapeutics. The scope and direction of the project was guided by the requirement for a rapid response to advances in knowledge and specific agents, plus widespread accessibility. Initially, this was directed towards undergraduate veterinary science students, but was intended to be accessible nationally and internationally also to graduates for continuing education and professional development. An online resource was therefore essential and the project moved away from its initial institutional model to a far more versatile and flexible Moodle-based platform. The Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology Network (VCPN) was designed to encompass problem-based learning, supported by a comprehensive formulary (list of therapeutic agents) and guidelines for the use of these agents. Students could therefore apply and test their existing knowledge in realistic scenarios, plus have access to resources to continue their understanding of the discipline. The problems were designed to develop Day One Competencies i.e., to reflect what is expected of a veterinary clinician in terms of being able to prescribe and use therapeutics on graduation. The release of the trial version of VCPN occurred in November 2010 in conjunction with a major international symposium on veterinary pharmacology. The symposium and the release of VCPN represented a major collaboration between all eight institutions teaching veterinary science in Australasia, plus industry and professional bodies. The trial release of VCPN was deemed successful since it could be readily accessed by national and international collaborators, with strong interest provided for continued development of the online learning resource. This will continue during 2011 for full release towards December, when further evaluation of the learning outcomes will be undertaken. This will also provide an opportunity to liaise with industry to provide continued support for VCPN and thereby provide new drug alerts, adverse drug events and focussed expert drug reviews/webinars and discussion forums. Veterinary pharmacology curriculum renewal to improve graduate outcomes and public safety 2 Project Outcomes and Impacts Introduction The need for this project arose from the requirement to renew the teaching curriculum for veterinary pharmacology throughout Australia and New Zealand. It was realised that pharmacology, as a discipline, sits at the intersection of many science streams and a renewed curriculum would provide a unique opportunity to be cross disciplinary (involving epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists, parasitologists, microbiologists and clinicians) and cross sectoral (collaborating and interacting with the medical and pharmacy communities). Further support for renewal of the national veterinary pharmacology teaching curriculum became apparent when the Chapter of Veterinary Pharmacology (CVP) of the Australian