Development, implementation, and evaluation of a novel multidisciplinary one health course for university undergraduates

Interprofessional education in undergraduate dental curricula: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Health professionals who effectively communicate and coordinate their work increase patient safety and quality of care. Therefore, an interprofessional education (IPE) program may be a valuable addition to the curriculum of health science courses. This study aims to verify how IPE has been implemented in undergraduate dental program curricula.

METHODS

This is a qualitative systematic review performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines with qualitative and qualitative-quantitative studies selected in the period between 2011 and 2021. The guiding question was as follows: how has IPE been implemented in undergraduate dentistry curricula around the world? The quality of the included articles was assessed using the CASP Qualitative Checklist (2018).

RESULTS

After the review, 22 studies were selected and data were extracted following the acronym PICo (Population, phenomenon of Interest, and COntext). The majority of studies in which IPE is included in Dentistry come from North American universities. Regarding the IPE teaching methodology, the use of active methodologies was observed and the interprofessional skills most common were role clarity, teamwork, and communication.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review indicated that Dentistry is included in interprofessional activities in many studies around the world, and primarily with colleagues in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy programs. IPE teaching takes place through the use of active methodologies and develops important skills for interprofessional work.

The increasing relevance of immunobiology within a connected animal science curriculum

Modern technological agriculture emerged in the 20th century and has expanded into a global enterprise occupying approximately 38% of the Earth's land area and accounting for over 40% of the world's workforce. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that to feed a world population of 9-billion people in 2050 will require an almost doubling of overall food production, including meat, dairy, and egg production over 2010 levels. However, our collective ability to meet this demand cannot be taken for granted. Despite many successes, global agricultural systems now face multiple unprecedented challenges including a dearth of new treatments for livestock diseases. The discovery of antibiotics led to a complacency now reflected in a dependency on exogenous antimicrobials and a growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Developments within the field of immunobiology had led to significant breakthroughs in understanding of human health and disease. However, despite over 60% of infectious diseases being zoonotic in nature and nonhuman animals acting as an important disease reservoir, research in livestock immunobiology has not been as resourced. As a direct result, recalcitrant animal diseases continue to threaten sustainability of animal production systems, security of the food chain and human health. It is within the context of collective One Health action that ambitious innovation in the connectivity of animal science undergraduate curricula is urgently required, specifically to include threshold concepts in immunobiology. Fostering transformative learning is critical to equip future generations of animal scientists with the knowledge and interdisciplinary skills to counter these existential challenges of our time.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to One Health: Course Design, Development, and Delivery

One Health is an approach to studying health by recognizing the interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. This article describes the process of designing a new course on One Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). We brought together faculty and students from across campus to develop a multidisciplinary course dedicated to One Health and infectious diseases. This group met over 9 months to brainstorm course goals, objectives, and ideas. The group also organized a workshop to explore One Health's existing knowledge and ongoing work on the UIUC campus. We solicited the help of experts throughout the university to co-teach the course. The course curriculum and course materials included 13 unique case studies. The course was offered in fall 2019, and its goals were to add to the existing training and coursework on One Health at the University of Illinois campus, offer a course that would be suitable for students from all fields of study, and develop helpful case studies to be made available to other educators. Student feedback highlights the course's successes as well as areas for future improvement. This article describes this entire process of course development, provides recommendations to guide improvements in the next offering of the course, and details our contributions to the field of One Health education.

On the importance of integrating comparative anatomy and One Health perspectives in anatomy education

As a result of many factors, including climate change, unrestricted population growth, widespread deforestation and intensive agriculture, a new pattern of diseases in humans is emerging. With increasing encroachment by human societies into wild domains, the interfaces between human and animal ecosystems are gradually eroding. Such changes have led to zoonoses, vector‐borne diseases, infectious diseases and, most importantly, the emergence of antimicrobial‐resistant microbial strains as challenges for human health. Now would seem to be an opportune time to revisit old concepts of health and redefine some of these in the light of emerging challenges. The One Health concept addresses some of the demands of modern medical education by providing a holistic approach to explaining diseases that result from a complex set of interactions between humans, environment and animals, rather than just an amalgamation of isolated signs and symptoms. An added advantage is that the scope of One Health concepts has now expanded to include genetic diseases due to advancements in omics technology. Inspired by such ideas, a symposium was organised as part of the 19^th International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) Congress (August 2019) to investigate the scope of One Health concepts and comparative anatomy in contemporary medical education. Speakers with expertise in both human and veterinary anatomy participated in the symposium and provided examples where these two disciplines, which have so far evolved largely independent of each other, can collaborate for mutual benefit. Finally, the speakers identified some key concepts of One Health that should be prioritised and discussed the diverse opportunities available to integrate these priorities into a broader perspective that would attempt to explain and manage diseases within the scopes of human and veterinary medicine.

Faculty Perceptions: A Qualitative Study of the Perceived Need, Opportunities, and Challenges of Developing "One Health-One Medicine" in the Medical, Veterinary, and Public Health Curricula

INTRODUCTION

The conceptual framework of One Health (OH) provides a strategy for promoting collaboration across the nexus of animal, human, and environmental health, which is essential for tackling emerging disease threats, such as COVID-19. However, there is no accreditation requirement for OH to prepare students across the professions for collaborative practice. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of faculty across the medical, veterinary, and public health programs about the need, opportunities, and challenges of developing OH in the curricula.

METHODS

In this qualitative study, faculty across the three disciplines were invited to participate in audio-recorded, focus group interviews. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

All participants recognized the need for OH as a critical concept for preparing students for collaborative practice. Opportunities were identified for shared learning and research across the disciplines, particularly through the use of interprofessional education. The lack of an accreditation mandate for OH in the medical curriculum was perceived to be the greatest challenge, leading to an anticipation of significant resistance among medical educators and students.

DISCUSSION

Successful development of OH in all three curricula is vital to prepare students for current and future threats to global health. The role of accreditation bodies in ensuring medical, veterinary, and public health curricula prepare students for these threats is crucial. Implications for practice include strategies for persuading medical educators and medical students to embrace OH in the curriculum and promote a culture of shared learning.