Balancing veterinary students' and house officers' learning experiences in veterinary teaching hospitals

Veterinary students at two large veterinary referral teaching hospitals were surveyed on their perceptions of competition with interns and residents for learning experiences during clinical instruction. Their responses led to an additional survey of a cohort of clinical educators on how this competition might be managed, what impedes effective management, and how progress toward an improved clinical learning environment might be measured. This article describes the results of the survey and discusses the nature of the competition and factors affecting the competitive learning environment. The results of this study should be expanded to include a larger cohort of veterinary students and an assessment of house officers' and faculty members' perceptions.