Training veterinarians to deal with death and the dying process: a scoping review

The aim of this scoping review was to investigate the range of methods used to guide veterinarians in their approach to the death of their animal patients with the guiding question: how is this topic addressed in the training of veterinarians? We included studies written in Portuguese or English, with a theme aligned with the objective of the review and which answered the guiding question. Studies not fulfilling these criteria were excluded. A total of 22 complete studies were identified by searching the Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Pubmed databases/libraries, with no restrictions on the date of publication. Studies from 1989 to 2023 were identified, mostly by North American authors. The results were organised into three major themes: topics in the veterinary curriculum about patient death and its impacts on students and future professionals; teaching methods used to cover this topic; and the extracurricular training available to support veterinarians with their direct experience of this topic. Analysis of these papers indicated that the theme of death appeared in three distinct contexts operating at different stages of veterinarians' training: the hidden curriculum, compulsory training initiatives, and extracurricular training. The review included reflections on the challenges inherent in this theme and inferences from the timeline of publications in this area. Our review clearly indicates that there is increasing recognition of the importance of this subject, as well as a feeling within the profession of being unprepared to manage this aspect of veterinary experience and a perception that teaching in this area needs to be improved.