Teaching Tip-Studying to Become a Veterinarian: A Course for Student Support

During the last decade, concerns over veterinary students' stress have been expressed in several studies, and the need for student support has become evident. In addition, the importance of professional and personal identity development in veterinary curricula has been widely recognized. There is a need to integrate academic and professional skills instruction with training in personal-life balance. Even though tools for student support and stress management exist within universities, reports on active and creative practices in veterinary education are scarce. We report here a course that has been organized twice as an optional part of veterinary studies to provide students with tools for everyday life and personal development toward a future veterinary career. Students defined their own learning objectives in this course, and they reported having received tools and knowledge especially for time management and stress control. The course gave the students an opportunity to step back from their busy schedules, think over their lives and actions, and even take concrete actions that have a positive effect on their well-being. The rich qualitative material collected during the pilot course has been used not only for developing the course further but also for development of the mandatory curriculum.