VEM5890 - VEM5890 Consultations in Shelter Animal Medicine Clerkship

Course Description

During this 2-week elective clinical clerkship, students will participate side-by-side with shelter medicine faculty and expert consultants in a professional assessment visit to an animal shelter. Students will develop an understanding and appreciation for the challenges shelter leaders face while working to achieve lifesaving and welfare goals for shelter animals. Prior to visiting the shelter, students will compile and analyze information about the client shelter’s animal intake, care, facilities, and outcomes. Students will then participate in an on-site* assessment of shelter operations, devising solutions for identified health and welfare concerns, and developing recommendations that improve the life-saving capacity of the shelter by encouraging best practices for animal physical and behavioral health and welfare. Students will practice communication and leadership skills by leading discussions with the consultation team on assigned assessment topics and by preparing written and in person recommendations for shelter staff.

 *On-site assessments may include up to 7 days of out-of-town travel depending on the location. Travel and accommodation costs are covered by the shelter medicine program. Students will provide their own meals.
 

Course Outline

The schedule and location of each clerkship will vary according to the needs and location of the shelters. All clerkships include some time at the CVM during which shelter information is collected and analyzed prior to the shelter visit and during which reports and follow-up communications are prepared. The clerkship also includes on-site shelter assessments, which may include up to 7 days of out-of-town travel depending on the location. Travel and accommodation costs are covered by the shelter medicine program, but students are expected to provide their own meals. Please refer to Canvas for updates and announcements to any changes to this schedule that are unique to each clerkship offering.

Portions of this course are delivered online through UF e-Learning (Canvas) and through Maddie’s University. Activities include readings, group discussions, quizzes, and assignments to deepen student understanding and assess achievement. Students are expected to demonstrate the professionalism expected of a practice-ready veterinarian, including knowledge of subject area, compassion for people and animals, preparation, teamwork, participation, and reliability.

Learner Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Plan for an assessment of an animal shelter’s operations and systems for population management.
2. Apply professional legal and ethical standards of client confidentiality to the veterinary-client relationship between the consultation team and the client shelter. 
3. Collect, analyze, and report on data collected about animal populations from a shelter management software program.
4. Calculate epidemiological statistics and trends related to annual and seasonal intake, length-of-stay, capacity, and outcomes for an animal shelter’s population. 
5. Use the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters as a guide for making recommendations designed to improve medical care and animal husbandry practices in an animal shelter, including recommendations for sanitation, biosecurity, environmental controls, nutrition, patient care, medical and surgical protocols, animal handling and transport, facility design, housing, preventative health care protocols, and infectious disease control. 
6. Make systematic observations of an animal shelter’s operations, communicate the findings, and make recommendations about how the operations might be improved or modified to promote efficient population management and improve physical and behavioral health for the sheltered animals. 
7. Promote the role of a shelter veterinarian as the medical director for animal shelters who is responsible for the health and welfare of both individual animals and the sheltered population. 
8. Prepare preliminary findings and assessments for optimizing the health, welfare, and best outcomes of sheltered animals to be used by consultants in the development recommendations and reports. 
9. Earn the Fear Free Shelters certification.