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CLASSNOTES
Teaching Clinical Skills in China on a very tight budget
Jason Kimm (1984 BVetMed)
My involvement in clinical skills classes in China came about after winning a BSAVA Travel Scholarship in 2014, for two
weeks at Zhejiang University, China.
There I heard about the widespread use, by universities and vets, of cats, dogs
and farm animals to practice invasive techniques on. Contacts and friends are very important to get things done in China, so I was in a good position to offer to return to show clinical skills classes using models not animals.
Hence, I have returned to China every year since then to do this; usually three half-an-hour hour classes of about ten students, for a week. I was funding my classes initially by an appeal, but then by persuading the University to put me up in the Halls of Residence (cheaper), working then locuming in Hong Kong, and being paid for some articles about Hong Kong, whilst putting some money in myself.
I have to be very selective in what I teach, due to being self-funded and carrying all the major things I need in my luggage. I generally use home-made models made from materials purchased at charity shops or similar. Although I aim to teach the students something, the main thing is to show the Deans and other faculty how much better this system is.
Last year they unexpectedly started paying for my flight as well as paying me a small amount for my teaching time – though I think this came about due to a dinner I had with another professor!
This funding allowed me to also attend other universities; so this year I attended Zhejiang A and F University. Their facilities and organisation were very different!
The new university introduced me to five more universities wanting my classes – meaning I now have classes at a total of seven universities. Hence, in October I will return again to another, and to four more in the spring.
With experience and better time management, I now cover I/V access, endotracheal tubing, bandaging, FNA’s, injection technique, suturing and briefly removal of canine and multi-rooted teeth; and finally the importance, welfare-
wise for animals and workers, of good kennelling (often terrible in China) as a time buffer and welfare issue.
With so many future classes and students, it has meant I have had to change some of the models to cope; such as initial use of bananas for suturing with pad progression, only for the better students, and different I/V tubing.
You can find out more about Jason’s work at: www.timothymills.org.uk www.facebook.com/vetappeal
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