How ethics is taught by European Veterinary Faculties:

A review of published literature and web resources

M Magalhães-Sant’Ana1,2, IAS Olsson1, P Sandøe3 and K Millar4

1. Laboratory Animal Science, IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular,

Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal
Contact: mdsantana@gmail.com

2. Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Largo Prof. Abel
Salazar2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal

3. Danish Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of
Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark

4. Centre for Applied Bioethics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, LE12 5RD, UK

Abstract

There is growing acknowledgement of the requirement to introduce future veterinarians to ethics. This
subject, however, was not part of the original undergraduate veterinary programmes and there seems to be
little consensus on how it should be included within the overall curriculum. In addition, ethics can be
related to a number of different subjects covered in veterinary training, such as animal welfare science,
professionalism, codes of professional conduct, and animal bioethics, to name but a few. Currently, there
is no systematic approach that can be applied to identify what is understood by ethics in veterinary
education, how it is taught, and how ethics teaching relates to the rest of the curricula.
This paper presents an initial attempt to comprehensively map how undergraduate veterinary ethics is
being taught across Europe. In terms of the data analysis, the data set derives from two information
sources. Firstly, the web-based resources provided by 85 European Faculties out of the 99 available at the
Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) website, are consulted (using a keyword search) to identify
curricular units that relate to ethics. This data source is also used to retrieve information about descriptors,
teaching methodologies, workload, European Credit Transfer System points (ECTS) and assessment
methods. Secondly the relevant peer-reviewed literature on the subject was analysed.
Our preliminary results suggest a wide range of ethics-related teaching activities underpinned by different
pedagogical approaches and objectives. The diversity of combinations in which ethics appears to be
conceptually framed could indicate that there is no explicit common aim in undergraduate veterinary
ethics education across European Faculties. This finding may not be unexpected since within the
regulation of veterinary training at a European level, in terms of ethics teaching, there is no clear
description of the competencies that veterinary students are intended to acquire in this subject area by the
end of their course.

Keywords: animal ethics, internet resources, ethics teaching, veterinary training, web search

Introduction

The importance of introducing veterinary students to ethics is increasingly acknowledged. Veterinarians

face a number of conflicting expectations resulting in complex set of ethical dilemmas which they are
expected to know how to deal with. Thornton et al. (2001) have described three objectives in the teaching
of veterinary ethics: to promote an appropriate attitude to animals, clients and other parties; to equip
students with the necessary skills in recognizing and dealing with ethical dilemmas; and to improve the
public perception of the veterinary profession.
In a similar way to other life science courses, the place of ethics within the overall veterinary curriculum
is far from undisputed (Downie and Clarkeburn 2005). European Directive 2005/36/EC considers
professional ethics as a core subject of veterinary education without, however, any clear description of the
competencies that students are intended to acquire by the end of their course. In addition, there is very
little understanding of how ethics is taught to veterinary students at the European level and, to our
knowledge, only one European survey included questions relating to the teaching of ethics in
undergraduate veterinary education. This survey was conducted between 2001 and 2002 and the results
were presented in three different reports (Edwards 2002; Gandini and Monaghé 2002; von Borrell 2002).
The data presented in this paper is the first phase of an extensive European-wide analysis of how ethics
teaching is integrated into university training (1st and 2nd cycle qualifications) of veterinary surgeons. On
our previous work we focused on the methodological approaches which could be used to teach ethics
(Magalhães-Sant’Ana et al. 2009). The paper highlighted the possibility of addressing ethics using rule-
based, value/virtue-based or skill-based approaches and drawing on three case studies, we explored how
they might appear in combination with each other in some courses. Building on this previous knowledge,
a web search was conducted that maps the inclusion of ethics within European veterinary curricula.

Methods

In order to identify ethics’ related subjects within European veterinary curricula, a web search was
conducted between 2 January and 17 February 2010. The aim of this analysis was to characterize the
nature of the teaching of ethics, but it was not intended to assess the quality of the teaching process. The
website of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) was used as a starting point to decide which
faculties to consider and then used to find the website of each individual faculty. Taking into
consideration that ethics is often part of another subject (since schools can understand the subject
differently), a set of key words was used to identify as much as possible of the content that could possibly
relate to ethics (Table 1).

Keywords
Ethics/Ethical
Moral/Morality
Professional/Professionalism
Conduct/Code of Conduct
Good Practice/Best Practices
Deontology/Deontological
Philosophy/Philosophical
Animal rights
Table 1: Keywords used in the web search of veterinary curricula.

When the computer-based search had identified a particular keyword, the related text was read carefully
in order to confirm if the word was used within the context of ethics. Data sources were also used to
retrieve information about descriptors, place in the curriculum (year), teaching methodologies, workload,
ECTS and assessment methods. Only national veterinary curricula have been included, programs for
foreign students (ERASMUS) have been excluded. This analysis refers only to compulsory disciplines as
it was important to identify what were the ethics components that are included in the core curriculum and
therefore common to the education of every student. Electives are considered separately in the general
discussion.
The web search was performed by the first author of this paper, who is a veterinary surgeon with
background in bioethics and experience in undergraduate veterinary education. Vernacular languages,
including those known to the researcher, were translated to English using the electronic translation tool
Google Translate. If the website was available in English as well as in vernacular language, information
was sought using both languages to confirm consistency and extent of the information provided. If
sometimes two conflicting findings arose, preference was given to the most recent information. Turkish
Veterinary Faculties were not assessed at this stage. In total, 85 Veterinary Schools representing 32
countries are included in this study.

Results

The 85 schools can be divided into two groups on basis of the amount of ethics’ teaching information
available through the internet. Group A (n=55) refers to those faculties from which comprehensive
 information on the teaching of ethics was obtained or where the limited information retrieved enabled us
to analyse the nature of ethics teaching. Group B (n=30) comprised those faculties where no website was
available or where it was impossible to retrieve any reliable information on the teaching of ethics.
Within Group A, it was possible to identify at least one of the keywords within the title and/or descriptors
of 98 compulsory units. This enabled identification of four underlying conceptual frameworks relating to
ethics teaching: History of Veterinary Medicine (HVM), Animal Welfare (AW), Animal Law (AL) and
Professionalism (P). Schools were distributed on the basis of this analysis (Table 2):

HVM AW + HVM
Group AW + AW + AL +
HVM AW AL P + AW AL + + AW +
A AL P P
+ AL P AL + P

55 3 4 25 3 1 5 2 1 8 3

Table 2: Conceptual frameworks found in the teaching of ethics at 55 European veterinary faculties.
(HVM = History of Veterinary Medicine; AW = Animal Welfare; AL = Animal Law; P =
Professionalism).

Following an analysis of course content, it was also possible to identify the teaching methodologies used
in 66 of 98 ethics-related units. Lectures were documented as the basic pedagogical method used, whether
alone (n=21), together with practical sessions (n=29) or with seminars (n=5). There is also a combination
of lectures and practical sessions with seminars (n=6) and with field trips (n= 2). Seminars are used alone
only twice and a workshop once.
The analysis showed that ethics is taught in every curricular year (Figure 1) with the highest incidence in
the fifth year followed closely by a notable peak within the first year. Ethics teaching is slightly more
prevalent in the final (typically clinical) years (4 th to 6th - 56%) when compared to the early (typically
preclinical) years (1st to 3rd - 44%).

Figure 1: Curricular distribution of 98 compulsory ethics’ related units.

The nature of the workload was difficult to assess as on many occasions ethics is taught as part of a wider
unit and the information available does not discriminate between the different components. The same
difficulty occurs when trying to assess the ECTS credits allocated to the teaching of ethics. Credits
granted to ethics’ education ranged from 0,5 to 10 ECTS, although most of these figures refer to an entire
syllabus and not to the teaching of ethics in particular. Additionally, some inconsistencies were seen
between the number of ECTS and the disciplines’ workload. One reason to explain this might be that
sometimes information is referring only to the teaching sessions instead of the total workload, not
including self directed study.
Of the 58 disciplines for which information on assessment methods was available, some type of formal
assessment was always described. With only five exceptions, assessment involves at least one final exam
(written, oral or both). Usually, assessment is mixed, involving combinations of exams, project/seminar
work and involvement in classes.

Discussion

Study Methodology

The website of FVE was chosen as the initial source of information for several reasons. First, the FVE is
the European umbrella organisation that represents national veterinary boards. Second, the FVE, together
with the European Association of Establishments of Veterinary Education (EAEVE), forms the European
Committee on Veterinary Education (ECOVE) responsible for a trans-European evaluation system of
veterinary faculties. And third, the FVE website offers in one resource
(www.fve.org/education/index.html) contact information for 99 European veterinary schools.
The web search offers, however, some limitations. The way in which particular schools use and update
their websites differs greatly and the quality and quantity of information provided is not always
satisfactory, especially in terms of the unit descriptors. Although the majority of the information gathered
makes reference to the present academic year (2009-2010), that was not always the case. The web search
does not identify all of the relevant information that should be assessed and included in the data set (e.g.
the academic background of the instructors and the exact amount of work dedicated to the teaching of
ethics). In addition, as a result of using an electronic translation tool, some aspects of the ethics teaching
in those languages not familiar to the researcher might have been missed.

General Discussion

Although ethics was seen to be a part of the compulsory curriculum of 55 European veterinary faculties,
attention given to this topic varies greatly from school to school. For example, the curriculum of the
Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Thessaly (Greece) does not include a discipline of
ethics but appears to provide some teaching regarding the ethics of laboratory animal use and the roles of
the veterinary profession. On the other hand, the Latvian Veterinary Faculty and the University of
Nottingham both include five different units with at least some ethical content. There is also great
disparity in the contextual framing of the teaching of ethics, the time dedicated to it and its place within
the curriculum.
The four units identified which include the teaching of ethics also seem to represent four different
conceptual frameworks underlying the role of ethics in veterinary education. These frameworks are often
used in combination with each other (Table 2). For some schools, ethics is addressed within the context of
History of Veterinary Medicine while for others ethics is part of Animal Welfare Science and included
within behavioural and/or welfare disciplines. A combination of ethics with Animal Law is frequently
found. Here the normative and legal standards are given an ethical appraisal (codes of conduct and
professional legislation, including welfare law, and forensic medicine). The word ‘Deontology’ is often
found within this context with somewhat different meanings. It is not usually applied in a philosophical
sense (e.g. referring to the approach of applying value principles over consequences), but to refer to the
notion of the moral justifications underpinning normative regulations. Finally a group of units relating to
‘Professionalism’ were considered. Although there is currently no accepted definition of professionalism
(Martimianakis et al. 2009) in this context the term could be used to describe a number of topics
connected with professional knowledge: sociology (including professional roles and professional
behaviour); philosophy (including ethical theories); and management and organisation (including
communication skills and conflicts resolution).
Some overlap was seen between a few of these concepts. Animal welfare legislation is found both within
the context of Animal Welfare Science and of Animal Law. Codes of Professional Conduct were
identified to be as much a part of the legal discourse as they were an important aspect of professional
knowledge.
The study data indicates notable differences in the contextual approaches used in the teaching of ethics.
There is, however, a considerable number of schools (n=25) addressing ethics purely in relation to
Animal Law (Table 2). Although ethics is found in every curricular year it is especially taught at the
beginning and at the end of the study programme (Figure 1). A combination of lectures with practical
sessions is the teaching method most widely used (n=29), followed by the exclusive use of lectures
(n=21). Mixed approaches combining lectures, practical sessions, seminars and field trips are less
common. With only few exceptions, assessment involves at least one final exam.
 The diversity of combinations in which ethics is seen to be conceptually framed (Table 2) could indicate
that there is no explicit common aim in undergraduate veterinary ethics education across European
Faculties. Formal teaching in ethics was not explicitly set out in the original undergraduate veterinary
programme and there seems to be little consensus on how, when and where to include it within the overall
curriculum. Our findings are in line with the results of the previous survey on the inclusion of animal
bioethics courses in Europe (Edwards 2002; Gandini and Monaghé 2002; von Borrell 2002). This
previous study - which took place before the EU enlargement (accession of the ten new Member States in
2004 and 2007) and before the Bologna Process (2005) - also found inconsistencies in ethics education in
terms of dedicated hours, availability and course content.
The inclusion of elective disciplines of bioethics is found in some veterinary faculties (e.g. Thessaloniki,
Greece; Teramo, Italy; Torino, Italy). However, competition with more practical electives could reduce
the impact of ethics with this educational strategy. The existence of some other interesting elective
disciplines (e.g. “Hunting Law and Ethics” offered by Budapest, Hungary and “Animals, I care for eating
them”1from Utrecht, The Netherlands) should also be noted.

Currently, there is no systematic approach that can be applied to identify what is understood by ethics in
veterinary education. This web-based analysis is the first step in a broader study which aims to
characterize ethics teaching to veterinary students, and the hypotheses generated from this work will be
further explored using complementary qualitative approaches.

References

Bologna Process (2005). The framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area. In:
Bergen Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education. May 19-20, 2005. Bergen,
Norway. Available at: http://www.bologna-
bergen2005.no/EN/BASIC/050520_Framework_qualifications.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2010.

Edwards, S.A. (2002). A synthesis of animal bioethics teaching in agricultural and veterinary courses in
Northern Europe. In: Proceedings of the AFANet Workshop: Teaching Animal Bioethics in Agricultural
and Veterinary Higher Education in Europe. May 23-24, 2002. INPL, Nancy, France, pp. 57-61.

Downie, J.R. and Clarkeburn, H.M. (2005). Approaches to the teaching of bioethics and professional
ethics in undergraduate courses. Bioscience Education (BEE-j 5-2). Available at:
http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/journal/vol5/beej-5.2.pdf. Accessed 1 Dec. 2009.

Gandini, G. and Monaghé, A. (2002). Teaching animal bioethics in agriculture and veterinary higher
education in Europe: a survey in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. In: Proceedings of
the AFANet Workshop: Teaching Animal Bioethics in Agricultural and Veterinary Higher Education in
Europe. May 23-24, 2002. INPL, Nancy, France, pp. 10-12.

Magalhães-Sant’Ana, M., Baptista, C.S., Olsson, I.A.S., Millar, K. and Sandøe, P. (2009). Teaching
animal ethics to veterinary students in Europe: examining aims and methods. In: Millar K., Hobson-West
P. and Nerlich B. (eds.) Ethical Futures: Bioscences and Food Horizons. Wageningen Academic
Publishers, The Netherlands, pp.197-202.

Martimianakis, M.A., Maniate, J.M. and Hodges, B.D. (2009). Sociological interpretations of
professionalism. Medical Education 43: 829-837.

Thornton, P.D., Morton, D.B., Main, D.C.J., Kirkwood, J.K., Wright, B. (2001). Veterinary Ethics: filling
a gap in undergraduate education. Veterinary Record 148: 214-221.

Von Borrell, E. (2002). A synthesis of animal bioethics teaching in agriculture and veterinary courses in
West and Central Europe. In: Proceedings of the AFANet Workshop: Teaching Animal Bioethics in
Agricultural and Veterinary Higher Education in Europe. May 23-24, 2002. INPL, Nancy, France, pp. 34-
39.

1
Free translation from the Dutch original: "Dieren, ik vind ze om op te eten”.

View publication stats