Anyone who came to see us at our stand during BSAVA congress 2022 will undoubtedly have heard me enthusing about the ‘A day in the life of…dramas’. This stream took a different, and very welcome approach to learning with short film clips of actors, interspersed with lectures, panel discussions, and live actor dialogue, breaking the subject matter into an easy to watch and interactive learning experience that lasted the whole day.
It is often claimed that after 10–15 minutes our attention in a lecture is likely to decline. However, studies do not support this ‘fact’. Instead, it is recommended that lecturers should develop ways to maintain students' attention — changing the format in which information is delivered certainly seems to be an effective way of doing this. The ‘Day in the life dramas’ encapsulated this philosophy perfectly.
Different people like to learn in different ways, and it has often been considered that an important part of learning is to understand the way that you learn best. It has been said that there were two types of learners — visual and auditory. Added to this is the kinesthetic learner, who learns best when shown simulations, presentations and videos or when moving around in a hands-on environment. There are also reading and writing learners, who process information best when they put pen to paper. However, the theory of learning styles appears to have been debunked — studies have found that students who thought they were visual learners, did not necessarily do better when presented with more visual learning materials.
Even if learning styles as we know them do not exist, it is still important for students to consider how they prefer to learn, and for those teaching to offer material in a variety of formats, as engaging more senses is likely to make a difference.
Hands on training in a practice is essential on the path to becoming a veterinary nurse. For this practical training, the profession needs dedicated clinical coaches and mentors. Coaches help the coachee to find space to think, giving back control to the coachee in a non-judgemental way while challenging thoughts, beliefs and behaviour. Coaching is not about giving answers — it is about helping coaches to identify the right questions, then empowering coachees to find their own answers. Suitable training is available for anyone thinking about becoming a clinical coach.
Mentors are usually more experienced practitioners who serve as a role models in support of a more junior member of staff in a particular area or technique. Traditionally, mentoring is the long-term passing on of support, guidance and advice, with a focus on nurturing and guiding the learner.
I love the idea that we learn something new every day. Today I learned that female orange-tip butterflies do not possess the orange tip to their wings and that only the male butterflies have these colourful wing-tips. I also learned that if I have a hot cross bun for breakfast, I will be hungry again by 11 am! I learned the latter yesterday as well, but I chose to ignore it! For learning to have an impact on us, we need to find a way assimilate it into our lives — while this is important in certain situations, such as in practice, it is less so when the information we learn is trivial. I hope that having read the articles in this issue of The Veterinary Nurse, you will engage with them and reflect on how they will change your clinical practice. The online CPD questions should also enhance the learning process!