Research and innovation
Improving the Quality of Veterinary Education
The chair group for Improving the Quality of Veterinary Education focuses on academic research and innovation in the field of veterinary education, in the broadest sense of the word. The chair group’s mission is to optimise the educational climate for both students and lecturers, and to build a bridge between evidence-based education and the daily practice of education at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Dissertations
Over the past few years, this research has resulted in the following dissertations:
- Developments in veterinary medical education: intentions, perceptions, learning processes and outcomes. Debbie Jaarsma (2008)
- On the development of competence in solving clinical problems. Can it be taught, or can it only be learned? Stephan Ramaekers (2011)
- Evaluating the veterinary clinical teacher. Tobias Boerboom (2012)
- Learning of veterinary professionals in communities. Esther de Groot (2012)
- Competency-based veterinary education: an integrative approach to learning and assessment in the clinical workplace. Harold Bok (2014)
- Exploring seminar learning in relation to students, teachers and context. Annemarie Spruijt (2014)
- The art of staying engaged. The role of personal resources in mental well-being of young veterinary professionals. Nicole Mastenbroek (2014)
The following doctoral research projects are currently underway:
- What is the benefit provided by excellence programmes within Utrecht University? (Ada Kool and Tim Mainhard, in cooperation with the Faculty of Social Sciences). (2015)
- Aligning core professional activities with competency-based veterinary education. Chantal Duijn (2018)
Publications
The results of parts of these long-term studies are published in leading international periodicals and presented at conferences for medical education, including the Netherlands Association for Medical Education (NVMO) and the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).
Education for students
We also provide a variety of education in the Bachelor’s and Master’s study programmes. This includes courses in the field of Cooperation, Communication and Personal Development, the elective course Teaching Skills and Master’s courses for non-veterinary related competencies. We also offer students the opportunity to conduct their thesis and/or research internships with our organisation.
Education for lecturers
In addition to courses for students, we also provide courses for lecturers, such as teaching skills in the context of the Basic Teaching Certification. The chair group also plays an important role in the examination quality committee and in a variety of Dutch and European projects pertaining to professionalisation, supervision and evaluation, and e-learning.