The True Cost of Care: A Team-Based Learning Example

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Education
• Sustainability in Practice
• One Health

Background:

• Veterinary medicine faces challenges from environmental change, social inequities, and economic pressures.
• Current veterinary education often isolates sustainability, hindering graduates' preparedness.
• The triple bottom line framework offers a structured approach to assess the true cost of professional decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and implementation of a team-based learning module for a pre-clinical veterinary curriculum.
• To operationalize the true cost framework within veterinary clinical reasoning.
• To integrate sustainability into veterinary education for better preparedness.

Main Methods:

• Developed and implemented a team-based learning module.
• Utilized preparatory materials, readiness assurance testing, and applied team exercises.
• Focused on public health and small animal practice contexts to analyze trade-offs in veterinary care.

Main Results:

• Students engaged in systems-level analysis of veterinary care trade-offs.
• Summative assessments and classroom discourse showed integration of sustainability language and reasoning.
• Demonstrated the effective application of the true cost framework in clinical decision-making.

Conclusions:

• The true cost framework provides a flexible and longitudinal approach to teaching sustainability in veterinary medicine.
• Sustainability can be embedded across species, practice types, and training stages.
• This educational strategy prepares veterinary graduates to address complex environmental and societal challenges.