From good clinicians to great teachers: Emergency veterinary educators discover the science behind effective teaching

Veterinarians spend years learning to be excellent clinicians, passing on knowledge through "on-the-job training." But when it comes time to teach others, they're often on their own.

"We're never taught how to teach," said Alicia Long, a large animal criticalist at the University of Pennsylvania. Her words captured a sentiment heard throughout the inaugural Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Education Conference recently held at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine .

The two-day conference in July brought together 70 veterinary professionals who discovered that being an expert clinician and being an effective teacher require very different skill sets.

Breaking down the silos 

Long pinpointed exactly what she'd stop doing: "I'm gonna try to stop doing the stand-up-and-talk type of lecture where you just talk to people and hope they want to listen because they have to listen."

It's a teaching method used across veterinary education — the traditional lecture format that assumes captive audiences will absorb information simply because they're required to be there. 

Her colleague, Maya Aitken, also double-boarded in surgery and emergency critical care, had an even more fundamental revelation: "Maybe I didn't know how to learn. ... Nobody ever discussed how one studies."

The conference addressed a fundamental challenge in veterinary education: Highly skilled clinicians are expected to teach without formal training in educational methods. This gap becomes particularly acute in emergency and critical care. When seconds count and lives are at stake, the pressure to "know everything" can paralyze both educators and learners. 

"There's an element of the unknown," Aitken explained. "You have to prepare for anything that could walk in or be carried in through the door. It makes it intimidating for the learner."

Global impact 

The conference attracted attendees with diverse educational challenges. Mariana Pardo works with Global Instruction for Veterinary Empowerment, traveling internationally to teach specialty techniques in countries without formal specialty training programs.

"We're training adult learners who have already been practicing in a certain way for a decade," Pardo explained. "Sometimes breaking that habit is harder, especially when they don't have access to the evidence that we have." 

The science of teaching

Led by keynote speaker Peter Doolittle, an expert in learning and memory, the conference introduced participants to research-supported teaching strategies that many had been using intuitively—without understanding the science behind them. 

Doolittle's presentation revealed how memory actually works and why certain teaching approaches are more effective. The conference built on this foundation with sessions on creating learning objectives, developing meaningful assessments, and using motivation strategies to engage learners.

Participants explored technology integration in veterinary education and learned best practices for simulation training specific to emergency and critical care. Interactive workshops gave attendees hands-on experience writing assessment questions and developing educational plans. 

"I was surprised to recognize that some techniques I'd been using—I didn't know why they worked," Aitken said. "Now I'm looking through my lectures asking, 'How do we make this more effective for the learner?'"

The community connection 

Many participants found networking and shared problem-solving the most valuable aspect of the conference.

"The community and the tools are important. Those resources are great," Pardo emphasized. "But the networking, by far, is the best part of this conference." 

Long agreed: "We're not in our silos anymore, having the same problems, trying to solve them independently."

Post-pandemic evolution

The conference also addressed how COVID-19 fundamentally changed veterinary education. The shift to hybrid learning models has compelled educators to reassess traditional approaches and adopt innovative teaching methods.

Conference organizer Bobbi Conner, clinical professor of emergency and critical care medicine at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, said she's been "gratified and humbled by all of the engagement and enthusiasm we've seen in response to this conference."

"There is momentum to keep the work going," Conner said. "Not only are we already making plans for next year's conference, but we are sorting out ways to continue to collaborate and learn from each other throughout the year."

The community-building goal appears to be working. 

"Just one day after the conference ended, two colleagues independently reached out to tell me about how they'd already successfully implemented a new teaching tool they learned at the meeting," Conner said.

"We tried to create a mixture of educational theory with practical tips that would allow attendees to make immediate improvements while understanding why the techniques would work. We're off to a great start and this is just the beginning." 

Looking ahead 

As participants prepared to return to their institutions and practices, they carried with them not only new teaching techniques but also a renewed sense of community and shared purpose. The conference demonstrated that effective veterinary education requires the same level of expertise and continuous learning as clinical practice itself.

The conference will return in 2026, with organizers hoping to build on this year's success in fostering a community of veterinary educators committed to evidence-based teaching excellence.

Early registration for the 2026 conference will open in fall 2025. Visit the VMCVM website for updates and conference resources.

The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine continues to support innovation in veterinary education through initiatives like this conference, strengthening the profession's commitment to teaching excellence across all practice settings