Assessing the Big Picture at Cummings Veterinary School: A Conversation with Scott Shaw
Story by Annie Soisson, Photo by Joanie Tobin
In the past several years there has been an increased interest in outcomes assessment of student learning, moving away from grades and other indirect indicators of learning and toward demonstration of skills and knowledge. At Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, they have been working toward the latter.
Dr. Scott Shaw recently took me on a whirlwind tour of the Foster Hospital for Small Animals and the Hospital for Large Animals in Grafton. Complete with an emergency room, surgical facilities, ICU and equine recovery facility, these are full scale operations. During our tour, Dr. Shaw described his many roles at the veterinary school. He was awarded his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) at Tufts in 1998, and returned in 2002 as a member of the faculty. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences / Emergency Critical Care, has a half-time clinical appointment, runs a small lab for clinical research on hemostasis and conducts research on infection control.
Shaw also chairs the Outcomes Assessment Committee which includes the Dean for Research, the Dean of Academic Affairs and the Dean of Student Affairs. The committee meets once a month and works closely with Dawn Terkla, Tufts’ Associate Provost for Institutional Research and Evaluation. The school has always conducted its own informal assessment, but in recent years, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has encouraged veterinary schools to conduct more formal outcomes assessment (http://www.avma.org/education/cvea/coe_pp.pdf), asking the question “How can you prove that your students are practice worthy?” “The dental profession has been asked to do this for years, but it is relatively new to the veterinary school,” says Shaw.
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