New D.V.M. Curriculum

Beginning with the class of 2028, Cummings School has introduced an exciting new D.V.M. curriculum. This curriculum builds upon the strengths of the Legacy curriculum, draws upon the knowledge and experience of our outstanding faculty and teaching staff, and leverages the excellent teaching hospitals and clinics operated by the school. The new curriculum emphasizes horizontal and vertical integration to link foundational biomedical science and clinical medicine. Students learn the foundations of comparative medicine that underpin successful veterinary practice and how to apply those principles to clinical cases. The curriculum takes a multispecies approach, without formal tracking, and offers elective and extracurricular opportunities so students can pursue areas of personal interest. The new curriculum is broad and deep, designed to challenge students to develop clinical reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The goal is to ensure that students develop the competencies necessary to pursue the range of careers available in veterinary medicine and sciences.

The primary objectives of the new curriculum are that by graduation, students will be able to:

1. Assess health and disease of animals and populations.
2. Utilize clinical reasoning to devise a differential diagnosis and treatment plan.
3. Perform basic clinical procedures and treatments competently and confidently
4. Apply critical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills to questions ranging in scale from the case-specific to the global level.
5. Effectively communicate and collaborate with the healthcare team, diverse clientele, community partners, lay public and other stakeholders.
6. Understand and exhibit professional and ethical conduct.
7. Contribute to a community that values and fosters diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and access, and recognize and address challenges as they arise.
8. Apply financial and business knowledge, skills, and attitudes to support the full spectrum of veterinary care and diversity of careers in the veterinary field.
9. Demonstrate enthusiasm to continue learning through identifying, critically assessing, integrating, and sharing knowledge and research.
10. Engage with civic responsibilities and commit to social justice, recognizing the interconnectivity of animals, people, and the environment.
11. Display resiliency in the face of challenges that arise within the profession and life.

The new curriculum emphasizes a participatory, in-person approach in which each student’s active engagement enhances the learning of all students. The number of didactic lectures has been decreased, but students are expected to attend lecture to profit from in-class interactions. There is increased emphasis on active and hands-on learning in all components of the curriculum. Courses are organized into multiple formats and perspectives to provide a comprehensive understanding of veterinary medicine and support students with different learning styles.

• Foundations of Health & Disease courses in Years 1 and 2 focus on core scientific knowledge. These courses teach the core concepts necessary to understand how the major domestic animal species function in health and disease, as well as the basic principles of diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Body Systems Disease courses in Year 2 explore the common and important diseases of each body system. These courses include the basics of diagnosis and treatment and integrate key knowledge from the Foundations of Health and Disease courses.
• Clinical Presentations courses in Year 3 approach knowledge from the perspective of a veterinarian in the clinical setting. These courses follow the animal from presentation in the clinic through diagnostic pathways and clinical decision-making, expanding on the basics taught in the second year. These courses are intended to help students break out of the siloed thinking of a specific system and address how a presentation could be symptomatic of diseases in several different body systems.
• Thread courses run throughout the entire preclinical curriculum. These courses provide continuity across the preclinical curriculum and serve as a major tool of integration. They serve to contextualize the biomedical scientific information taught in other courses within the scope of veterinary practice.
• Preclinical Electives in Years 1-3 give students an opportunity to step outside the core curriculum and explore veterinary specialties. Because the curriculum does not track, these opportunities allow students to individualize their program. Elective Week (years 1-2) ends each year with a week of short courses on a broad variety of subjects (for example, working dogs, dairy welfare audits, hormonal therapy, professional wellness, and communicating with difficult clients). Advanced Electives (year 3) give students an opportunity to develop deeper understanding of clinical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and gain an appreciation of specialty-level medicine and surgery before they start clinical rotations.
• Selectives leave time in the preclinical schedule for students to choose clinical, discipline-based, or research skills experiences through Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine or elsewhere. Preapproved selective opportunities are provided by faculty and partner organizations. Students are also encouraged to develop new selective experiences that fit their interests. Selective time can also be used to participate in a Dual Degree Program (vet.tufts.edu/dual-degree-programs).

The curriculum ends with 15 months of clinical rotations. These have not changed from the legacy curriculum.

Threads

Thread courses have a starring role in the new curriculum. Emphasis is placed on building competence, confidence, clinical skills, communication, and contextual learning, all in a supportive community. These are the 6 “C’s” of the program and a major goal of the threads. There are five threads:

• Clinical Relevance introduces clinical cases and clinical reasoning from week one. Students work in small group teams to apply the knowledge learned in the Foundations of Health and Disease courses to clinical cases so that they understand the clinical context and relevance of the material being learned.
• Clinical Skills and Communication are hands-on labs where students develop technical and communication skills in a clinical reasoning context. Live animals, simulations, and client actors are all used to strengthen students’ competence and confidence.
• Diversity and Professional Perspectives explores core elements of being a professional. Topics such as managing conflict, engaging with clients, and career pathways support students in developing a professional identity. The thread also includes financial and business skills.
• Veterinarians, Animals, and Society expands the role of the veterinarian in broader community. The thread explores human-animal relationships, international medicine, law, ethics, policy and welfare.
• Research Relevance focuses on research skills to build life-long learning habits. Students are prepared to practice evidence-based medicine and to continue expanding the field of veterinary science through their own research.

Other Highlights of the Curriculum

• Emphasis on development of contextual knowledge and clinical reasoning skills.
• Focus on student, staff, and faculty wellbeing for class and semester scheduling.
• Prioritization of collaboration and team-based learning so that students can succeed in the team-based health care environment required in veterinary medicine.
• Refining communication skills.
• Access to summer research opportunities.
• One Health perspective.
• Clinical year rotations in primary care in all clinical fields and advanced rotations in diverse veterinary specialties.
• Exploration of spectrum of care concepts.
• Opportunities for community outreach.
• International travel experiences.