Prevalence of Mistreatment in Veterinary Medical Education; a Survey of 3rd Year Veterinary Students at a Single University

Overview

Journal BMC Med Educ

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2025 Feb 25

PMID 40001091

Authors

Katherine H Barnes

Stephanie Johnson

Chin-Chi Liu

Karanvir S Aulakh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Improving quality of life in veterinary medicine has emerged as an important topic. One factor which may influence quality of life in medical education is mistreatment (verbal abuse, power abuse, and physical abuse to establish and maintain a power hierarchy). Although it has been documented in medical education, its occurrence in veterinary education is not yet known.

Methods: Third year veterinary students were invited to participate in an anonymous and voluntary survey on mistreatment during the preclinical and clinical education. Students were asked if they witnessed and/or experienced a mistreatment, the type of mistreatment, and the person responsible for administering the mistreatment. Quality of life scores were obtained using the Medical Outcomes Trust short form questionnaire (SF-36). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) model followed by pairwise Least Significant Difference post hoc comparison was used to investigate the relationship variables.

Results: Fifty-five of 60 students (91.7%) that completed the questions on mistreatment indicated that they experienced and/or witnessed a mistreatment during veterinary education. 92% of students that experienced a mistreatment said that it interfered with the learning environment but only 29% of students reported the mistreatment at the time that it occurred. The most common mistreatment was public humiliation (78.3%) followed by special treatment based on gender (63.3%) and racially or ethnically offensive remarks (28.3%). Only racially or ethnically insensitive remarks were associated with a lower quality of life score in the social functioning category (p = 0.0131).

Conclusions: Mistreatment frequently occurred during the preclinical and clinical education of veterinary students in this population and interfered with the learning environment. The only mistreatment associated with a lower quality of life score was racially insensitive remarks. Programs to educate students and clinicians/staff about mistreatment and how to handle education in a stressful clinical and a preclinical setting may be of benefit in the future.

Clinical Trial Number: Not applicable.

References

Schuchert M . The relationship between verbal abuse of medical students and their confidence in their clinical abilities. Acad Med. 1998; 73(8):907-9. DOI: 10.1097/00001888-199808000-00018. View

Zhang Y, Qu B, Lun S, Guo Y, Liu J . The 36-item short form health survey: reliability and validity in Chinese medical students. Int J Med Sci. 2012; 9(7):521-6. PMC: 3444972. DOI: 10.7150/ijms.4503. View

Walvoord E, Howenstine M, Allen B, Ribera A, Nabhan Z, Tori A . Engaging All Stakeholders to Create a Trusted, Data-Driven, Process Improvement Approach to Addressing Learner Mistreatment. Teach Learn Med. 2022; 36(1):61-71. DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2022.2122979. View

Nemeth G . Health related quality of life outcome instruments. Eur Spine J. 2005; 15 Suppl 1:S44-51. PMC: 3454556. DOI: 10.1007/s00586-005-1046-8. View

Baranwal S, Ellen S, Giordano C, Los I, Smolen A, Salhi B . Raising Awareness of Mistreatment Policies and Reporting Procedures Using a Novel Medical Student Mobile Application. J Gen Intern Med. 2024; 40(1):294-298. PMC: 11780033. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08948-8. View

Shanafelt T, Bradley K, Wipf J, Back A . Burnout and self-reported patient care in an internal medicine residency program. Ann Intern Med. 2002; 136(5):358-67. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-136-5-200203050-00008. View

Fleit H, Lu W, Olvet D, Chandran L . Case Studies for Recognizing Appropriate and Inappropriate Behaviors in the Clinical Learning Environment. MedEdPORTAL. 2019; 13:10638. PMC: 6338161. DOI: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10638. View

Cook A, Arora V, Rasinski K, Curlin F, Yoon J . The prevalence of medical student mistreatment and its association with burnout. Acad Med. 2014; 89(5):749-54. PMC: 4401419. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000204. View

Skan O, Tregidgo L, Tizzard J, Westlake I, Joji N . Examining medical students' experience of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment from clinical teachers at a UK medical school. Med Teach. 2024; 47(2):300-308. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2024.2331034. View

10.

Sahiti Q, Shearer C, Thomson C, Sutherland L, Bowes D . Addressing medical resident mistreatment: A resident-centred approach. Med Teach. 2023; 46(6):769-775. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2023.2279903. View

11.

Fried J, Vermillion M, Parker N, Uijtdehaage S . Eradicating medical student mistreatment: a longitudinal study of one institution's efforts. Acad Med. 2012; 87(9):1191-8. PMC: 4399975. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182625408. View

12.

Kassebaum D, Cutler E . On the culture of student abuse in medical school. Acad Med. 1998; 73(11):1149-58. DOI: 10.1097/00001888-199811000-00011. View

13.

Karim S, Duchcherer M . Intimidation and harassment in residency: a review of the literature and results of the 2012 Canadian Association of Interns and Residents National Survey. Can Med Educ J. 2015; 5(1):e50-7. PMC: 4563615. View

14.

Hafen Jr M, Reisbig A, White M, Rush B . The first-year veterinary student and mental health: the role of common stressors. J Vet Med Educ. 2008; 35(1):102-9. DOI: 10.3138/jvme.35.1.102. View

15.

Shanafelt T, Oreskovich M, Dyrbye L, Satele D, Hanks J, Sloan J . Avoiding burnout: the personal health habits and wellness practices of US surgeons. Ann Surg. 2012; 255(4):625-33. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e31824b2fa0. View

16.

Volk J, Schimmack U, Strand E, Reinhard A, Hahn J, Andrews J . Work-life balance is essential to reducing burnout, improving well-being. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2024; 262(7):950-957. DOI: 10.2460/javma.24.02.0135. View

17.

Strand E, Zaparanick T, Brace J . Quality of life and stress factors for veterinary medical students. J Vet Med Educ. 2005; 32(2):182-92. DOI: 10.3138/jvme.32.2.182. View

18.

Tanne J . Medical students still suffer mistreatment by faculty, resident doctors, and nurses, US report says. BMJ. 2012; 345:e7069. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e7069. View

19.

Chigerwe M, Boudreaux K, Ilkiw J . Assessment of burnout in veterinary medical students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educational Survey: a survey during two semesters. BMC Med Educ. 2014; 14:255. PMC: 4256738. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-014-0255-4. View

20.

Jamali A, Tofangchiha S, Jamali R, Nedjat S, Jan D, Narimani A . Medical students' health-related quality of life: roles of social and behavioural factors. Med Educ. 2013; 47(10):1001-12. DOI: 10.1111/medu.12247. View