Andrea Rodriguez Rodriguez 1

Professor Thames
ENC 1102
22 October 2020

Introduction

The medical community is a large discourse community with several branches, one of

which is the veterinarian discourse community. The members of this discourse community use

several genres to communicate with each other and people outside of it. Most of the genres that

are used within the discourse community are scientific manuscripts and records of scientific

findings. Knowledge of the writing skills that veterinarians develop in their graduate studies has

great importance, as we can see how it affects them later in their career. These findings lead us to

the question, how does the development of writing skills in graduate school help veterinarians

communicate with one another and their clients? It is vital that people who wish to be a part of

the veterinarian discourse community learn about the importance of writing skills. They need it

for the development of possible scientific articles, and they need it to better communicate with

both their peers and their clients. In Riederer’s article, they describe the process of scientific

writing for veterinarians working in a lab environment. They describe the importance of

conducting studies and having to report on the findings of their experiments (Riederer p. 317).

Without developed writing skills, veterinarians cannot achieve this in the lab setting. The

development of writing skills within the veterinarian field has been talked about, but there is not

enough research to emphasize the importance of learning about writing skills. In Isabelle

Thompson and Charles M. Hendrix’s article, their survey shows that “effective communication is

an essential aspect of professional practice” (Thompson, Hendrix p. 118). That is a fact that

cannot be disputed. Without clear communication, a veterinarian cannot effectively do their job.

Thompson and her team also found that problem-based learning became the most useful

framework in the curriculum of a vet student. They state that problem-based learning
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“emphasizes knowledge as process,” rather than focusing on honing writing skills (Thompson p.

118). Although Thompson and Hendrix state that problem-based learning could overshadow

writing skills, a study by Elizabeth Lane described problem-based learning as an effective way to

learn in veterinary education.

Problem-based learning can be defined as a way of leaning that replicates real life situations

to teach the learner how to complete tasks (Lane p. 631). Lane challenges what Thompson and

her team states when it comes to what is more important while becoming better communicators

in vet school. Problem-based learning encourages the development of communicating with

others. It proves that developing writing skills is not the only way to become a better

communicator. The forms of communication within the veterinarian field include writing

research papers for the discourse community and having hands on, clinical experience. It is also

a more attractive way of learning, since it deals with working with animals hands on, rather than

staying in a classroom and focusing on communication skills through paper. Problem-based

learning has also been deemed as a successful part of the curriculum. Studies have shown that

curricula with a lot of problem-based learning improves performance in National Medical

Licensing Exams in America (Lane p. 632). With this problem-based learning, we also see how

veterinarians are used to dealing with behavior. A study by Lori Kogan demonstrates that 42.8%

of the veterinarians she surveyed felt that they got significant training for animal behavior in

school (Kogan p. 158). However, problem-based learning does not provide sufficient

justification for how exactly it helps a veterinarian develop better communication after their

graduate school education.

In this article, I argue that writing studies is very important to the veterinarian discourse

community. Not only is it vital for the communication skills on paper, but writing studies allow
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the veterinarian to recognize their audience and discuss medical jargon as necessary. This paper

describes interviews between three different veterinarians that went to different veterinarian

schools. The results of the study indicate that most veterinarians do not have a writing studies

background, but they agree that knowledge about writing and clear communication is needed in

order to succeed in the career. The paper is structured as follows: contains a description of my

methods and the parameters of my research, a description of my results, and an analysis of my

results.

Methods

To conduct research for this paper, one interview was presented with a veterinarian in my

area. I asked questions pertaining to the writing studies that they partook in vet school, and how

these writing studies helped them with their career. I asked questions about whether or not it

encouraged them to write scientific articles and broaden their discourse community. I also

inquired about how the developing of writing skills has helped them better communicate with

other members of the discourse community, as well as with clients. I emailed about 5

veterinarian practices, and they decided to do interviews over email. This meant that I sent them

the questions and they sent the answers right back to me. Only one of the 5 practices were able to

complete this, as the rest of the veterinarians could not complete the interview when needed. The

interview answers helped me figure out what these veterinarians’ experience was when it came

to studying writing and developing writing skills. I also had asked them about whether or not

they received an education within writing studies in order to determine if they were more or least

likely to communicate a certain way with other members in their discourse community.

Everyone that participated in the survey and the interviews had to sign the informed consent
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form after I explained the nature of my thesis. I underwent CITI training in order to be certified

in the understanding of conducting research with humans.

For the interview questions that I conducted, I asked the veterinarians pretty non-personal

questions. The only risk that was posed was possible trauma that they went through while taking

a writing studies course in graduate school. The questions simply asked if they took any writing

skills courses in graduate school and how it affected them in the future. Whether or not the

classes actually helped them will help hone the rest of my research, as my research question

focuses on writing studies courses helped them be better communicators. I wanted to use

interviews as they allowed me to get information from people that actually went through the

process, rather than just basing all my knowledge on secondary sources that have changed over

time. Doing interviews now allows me to get an insight of more recent events.

Due to the survey not working out, I needed to resort to YouTube videos of veterinarians

that talked about some of their writing experiences in vet school. I watched three different

videos. Two of them touched on the personal statement needed to enter into veterinary school.

This type of video will help me further understand the skills needed just to get into the vet

school. I will analyze and code these videos to understand the skills needed as a precursor to

school. The third video touches on the opportunities within the veterinarian field. This video will

help me expound on the importance of skills other than taking care of animals.

Results

From my data collection, I notice that not a lot of veterinarians put an emphasis on

their writing skills while in college. They stress that they have studied it more during

undergraduate school rather than graduate school. This was clear in the interview that I
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conducted with the veterinarian. She stated that she did not talk any writing classes in vet school

and that she did not find it vital to take classes to strengthen their writing skills. She does agree

that communication is extremely important in the field, but she stood her ground when asked

about whether or not a writing skills class is pertinent to the profession. The “Veterinary

Medicine: It’s More Than You Think” video did not expound on writing skills as much as it did

communication skills. The video and the veterinarian’s view on communication are similar.

However, the interview produced different results than from what I gathered from the other

YouTube videos. The videos were a clear indicator of pre-veterinarian students having to have

strong writing skills, which they learn in undergraduate school. Both videos I watched put a large

emphasis on being able to communicate clearly in a personal statement to make yourself a more

attractive veterinarian student. When researching more on this topic, many articles dictated that

writing studies should be incorporated into the graduate school curriculum so veterinary students

could keep a clear communication through paper as they progress in their career.

Codes How to Write a Getting into Vet Veterinary

Veterinary School: Personal Medicine: It’s More
Medicine Personal Statement Than You Think
Statement
Structure of Writing Follows a strict (“Fairly Simple.”)
guide. States that you Since the personal
need an essay-style statement has a
personal statement. limited amount of
Proves to show past characters, the
writing classes taken. commentator decided
(“Make your personal to keep it short and
statement coherent.” simple. She still kept
“Make sure it a rigid structure of
flows.”) introduction, body,
and conclusion.
Demonstrates pre-
writing studies
classes.
Experience Writes in a personal Talks about personal Vets do not focus on
stance. For example, experience and shows just one field of
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states that in a emotion in her animals (ex.

personal statement personal statement. Domestic animals),
you need to talk She shows what she they go further and
about your learns from the study many more
experiences as pre- experiences that she animals. Experience
vet. Does not mention went through. is not everything
anything about though in the field.
writing skills.
Communication States that it is vital No matter what kind
to communicate to of vet you are, it is
those reading your vital to be able to
personal statement communicate with
that you’re ready for your clients and with
a specified college. your team at the
practice. Teamwork
is important, so
communication
comes with that.
The code displayed is the most important of all the research done. It shows a clear

comparison and contrast between the videos that I watched. These videos differ in the way that

they are presented. Two of them touch on the subject of personal statements, which come before

being accepted into veterinarian school, but it still represents the writing skills that they need in

order to enter veterinarian school. It makes sense that they need to strengthen those skills while

they study to be a licensed veterinarian. When it came to the interview, I focused on what she

said and compared it to the videos. I noticed that because she did not take any writing classes in

vet school, she could not relate to the two videos about personal statements that I watched.

Discussion

My results demonstrate a lot of what I was not expecting. First, I was not able to conduct

a survey like I wanted to, so I had to resort to using interesting videos that helped me understand

more about what veterinarians have to do before and after their graduate school experience. The

veterinarian I interviewed was very helpful in the way that she was quick to respond to my

interview questions, and she did not hold anything back. She mentions that she has a similar
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experience to other veterinarians, as she attended the University of Florida’s veterinary school.

However, I hit a bump in the road when only one of the 5 practices I emailed was able to get

back to me in the process of writing my scholarly article. I could not do the survey that I wanted

to because of this outcome, so I had to resort to other research sources. The videos were

incredibly useful as I am able to see a discrepancy between different people in the veterinarian

discourse community. Not everyone has the same experience in veterinarian school, but my

research before deciding on this topic indicates that writing studies should be incorporated into

the vet school curriculum because it is a way to help veterinarians become better communicators

with their clients and fellow veterinarians.

The development of writing skills in graduate school does not help veterinarians

communicate with one another and their clients. As of current, in November 2020, veterinarian

schools are not stressing the importance of writing skills in the curriculum. The veterinarian that

I interviewed did not have to take any of those classes in graduate school, and she mentioned

multiple times that she did not find the point in having writing studies, as most veterinarians do

not spend their time writing scientific journals. Communication throughout the discourse

community is mostly through teamwork shown within their respective practices.

The results of my study do not agree with the claims of the authors in my literature

review. Many of the authors in my literature review agree that writing skills should be

strengthened in veterinarian school, so they feel more comfortable writing out their scientific

findings for the rest of the discourse community. My results aid the assumption that all

veterinarians write scientific journals on their findings. In the “Veterinary Medicine: It’s More

Than You Think” video, there are different fields that veterinarians can go to, and other fields are

more likely to complete experiments and write about them than the fields that I focused on,
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which are domesticated animal vets. Pathologist veterinarians are more likely to communicate to

the rest of the community through their writing skills because they are responsible for finding

things that make animals sick.

Conclusion

Currently, veterinarian schools across the world are not offering writing studies classes,

or adjacent classes, to strengthen their writing skills. This seems to be limiting to students that

want to go into a subfield of veterinarian medicine that asks them to write their scientific

findings in a coherent manner. My findings are important because they just further my

understanding that there needs to be more emphasis on writing skills within the vet school

curriculum. It could be as an offered class, and not force everyone to take it, but it is important

for veterinarians to continue to hone their writing skills in order to deal with the side of

veterinarian medicine that does not deal with just taking care of animals. Veterinarian medicine

is far more than just taking care of animals.

There needs to be more research done with veterinarians out in the field now. I could not

get as much data as I wanted to, but if the interviewee pool was larger, we will get a better view

of the development of these vets’ writing skills. Other scholars can continue to research, and

perhaps there can be a comparison between the United States and a country outside of it.
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Works Cited

American Veterinary Medical Association. “Veterinary Medicine: It’s more Than You Think.”

YouTube, video by the American Veterinary Medical Association, 30 April 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mglX7PCoaI.

Gordon-Handler, Lisa, et al. “Exploration of Graduate Health Care Student Writing Skills Using 

a Transformational Learning Approach to a Literacy Enrichment Program.” Journal of 

Allied Health, vol. 48, no. 3, Fall 2019, pp. 201–208. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=138924509&site=eds-live&

scope=site.

Kogan, Lori R., et al. “Veterinary Behavior: Assessment of Veterinarians’ Training, Experience, 

and Comfort Level with Cases.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, vol. 47, no. 2, 

Apr. 2020, pp. 158–169. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3138/jvme.0318-035r1.

Lane, Elizabeth A. Problem-Based Learning in Veterinary Education. Journal of 

Veterinary Medical Education, vol. 35, no. 4, 2008, pp. 631-636. 

http://medsci.indiana.edu/c602web/tbl/reading/Lane_PBLinveted_2008.pdf

Marta, Sofia. “How to write a Veterinary Medicine personal statement / General tips.” YouTube,

video by Sofia Marta, 24 August 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=M3rA14OuCao

Rodriguez, Andrea. Personal interview. 23 October 2020.

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Reiderer, Beat M, Arieh Bomzon, and Paulin Jirkof. Scientific writing in the laboratory 

animal sciences. Laboratory Animals, vol. 51, no. 3, 2000,  pp. 315-320. 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0023677217701953

Seshiria, “Getting into Vet School: Personal Statement.” YouTube, video by Seshiria, 21

September 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3To-QFyNYE.

Thompson, Isabelle and Charles M. Hendrix. Learning-to-communicate and 

communicating-to-learn in veterinary medicine: A survey of writing, speaking, and 

reading in veterinary medical curricula. Journal of Technical Writing and

Communication, vol. 30.2, 2000, pp. 105-123.

Williams, Diana. Writing for Clinical Practice. Writing Skills in Practice : A Practical Guide for 

Health Professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2002, pp. 21-27. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=108309&site=eds-live&sc

ope=site.

Appendix

Interview

Consent Form for Interview Template

Interview Questions

Dr. Patel’s Interview

Dr. Patel’s Informed Consent Form

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Certificate

PDF CITI Certificate

YouTube Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3rA14OuCao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mglX7PCoaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3To-QFyNYE

Coding of YouTube videos