A participatory rapid ethnographic assessment protocol for studying human-animal-material interactions in veterinary...

Veterinary clinical practice involves complex interactions among clinicians, learners, clients, animals, material objects, and built environments. These interactions shape how care is delivered, how students learn, and how practitioners respond to changing circumstances in real time. However, existing qualitative and ethnographic methods often lack a replicable protocol for capturing how human, animal, and material contributions jointly shape clinical practice as it unfolds. This methodology article presents a participatory Rapid Ethnographic Assessment protocol designed for veterinary educators, practitioners, and researchers who seek to study, teach, and improve context-sensitive clinical practice in interspecies settings. The protocol details the epistemological and philosophical implications of a two-camera audiovisual data collection strategy: one camera records naturally occurring clinical interactions for later research analysis, while a second assessment camera captures interactional sequences that can be rapidly replayed to participants for reflection and coaching. The method proceeds through four stages: identifying candidate sequences of practice, conducting participatory interactional sense- and meaning-making, organizing paired assessment and research recordings for close analysis, and interpreting selected sequences using relevant clinical, educational, organizational, or social science theory. The protocol is illustrated through an example from mobile veterinary care in which a dog treat, clinician, client, patient, and technician collectively contribute to redirecting an interaction and enabling care to proceed. Anticipated outputs include participant-validated interactional data, teachable examples of clinical and leadership practice, context-specific quality improvement insights, and evidence that can inform veterinary education and One Welfare-oriented outreach. The article details required materials, step-by-step procedures, timing, pause points, anticipated results, limitations, pitfalls, and troubleshooting strategies. By making human-animal-material interactions visible and analyzable, this methodological protocol offers a practical method for studying and improving clinical practice in veterinary humanities, social science, and community-engaged veterinary research.