Unit information: Professional Studies 2 in 2021/22

Unit name	Professional Studies 2
Unit code	VETS24000
Credit points	0
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Slingsby
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Completion of BVSc1
Co-requisites	All other units in BVSc 2
School/department	Bristol Veterinary School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit is vertically integrated with Professional Studies units in Years 1, 3, 4 and 5 and allows continuing development of an understanding of the complex issues and responsibilities associated with being a veterinary professional.

Communication skills - Teaching facilitates the development of sound and effective face-to-face, verbal and written communication skills, primarily through reflective experiential practicals.

Business management - This element explores how services and products are developed in a business environment and the complex factors that affect business success. Personal and business budgeting are covered. The specific factors affecting an agricultural business associated with EMS experience are explored in detail.

Study Learning and Investigation - The evaluation of effective personal study and development strategies continues in this element, which also explores how evidence is collected and evaluated in response to both research and clinical questioning.

Aims:

• To allow the development of effective personal verbal communication skills, both face-to-face and on the phone with clients

• To encourage understanding of the legal, ethical and practical issues associated with writing and maintaining adequate case records in practice

• To encourage understanding of how services and products are developed in business using examples from the veterinary industry and personal and business budgeting; to equip students with knowledge of the external factors that operate on agricultural businesses

• To facilitate appropriate study and development skills for the BVSc programme including the evaluation of evidence in the context of biomedical data and clinical cases

Intended Learning Outcomes

Communication skills. Students should be able to:

• Describe the communication skills required to effectively gather and give information both face-to-face and on the phone

• Describe the legal and ethical issues associated with written records and identify good and poor examples of clinical case records

Business management. Students should be able to:

• Describe the basic steps required to provide or develop services or products in a veterinary business environment

• Work in a group to identify the external factors (political, economic, sociological and technological) that operate on businesses of all sizes and apply this to a specific agricultural business

Study, Learning and Investigation. Students should be able to:

• Search for information and evidence online and from texts, and identify the type and quality of evidence described in various information sources

• Describe the distribution of data from different sources

• Apply database searches to projects on biomedical research and/or clinical questions

• Reflect on their personal approach to studying and EMS, on the strengths and weaknesses of their techniques, and on changes that might increase their effectiveness in these areas

Teaching Information

Lectures, seminars, practicals, computer-assisted-learning, reflective journal

Assessment Information

• Directed self-education (DSE) task (Business task) - pass/fail

• ePortfolio reflective journal entry - pass/fail

Before starting year 3, students must also have completed and submitted to the EMS office a Health and Safety risk assessment for each of their preclinical EMS placements, which continue until the summer vacation of Year 2

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. VETS24000).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.