Veterinary Educational Researcher's Handbook

Fundamental to the success, growth, and quality of veterinary education is the research base on which it is founded. Research generates new knowledge, validates initiatives, and guides innovation. Veterinary educational research (VER) is a relatively new field but is rapidly growing and emerging as a discipline in its own right. It is important to conduct educational research studies and to disseminate the findings to raise awareness among the community, and to allow other educators to critically evaluate and refine their teaching methods and design further scientific inquiries. Our group undertook a two-part study. In the first part, we used a survey to collect information about the status of educational research among the international veterinary community, the challenges encountered and tips for success (Baillie et al., 2021). More than 250 participants representing 41 countries completed the survey; 79% had performed VER and 21% were planning to in the near future. The most common challenges included difficulties when designing and undertaking studies, while the most frequently mentioned tips for success related to working with people who can provide expertise, mentoring, and collaboration. The second part of the project involved semi-structured interviews and provided a narrative view of lived experiences of some of the first, and now well-established, veterinary educational researchers (Fogelberg et al., 2021). Specific challenges identified by interviewees included limited resources, lack of respect for the discipline and having to acquire the skills to transition from a clinical to an educational research focus. There was an overall positive outlook related to being able to better influence policies, more satisfying teaching and leadership roles, and an excitement for learning and nurturing future educational researchers. The growing enthusiasm for VER together with the data from our studies informed and inspired the creation of this ‘Veterinary Educational Researcher’s Handbook’ to support the community. The handbook consists of a series of relatively short chapters, written in accessible style for busy veterinary educators. The chapters follow the researcher’s journey from the initial idea, to building a team and reviewing the existing literature, to explanations of the common study types and the associated study design (which were identified through our research study as evaluating educational interventions, using surveys, focus groups and interviews, systematic reviews, qualitative research and mixed methods). The handbook also offers guidance to address some of the challenges identified such as funding (writing grant applications), obtaining research ethics approval, recruiting and managing study participants, collecting and analyzing data, and the important final step of disseminating the findings.