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Cultural humility, with its concomitant understanding of the importance of the influences of diversity and inclusion, improves health outcomes in the human medical field. Recent changes to the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education requirements in veterinary medicine include teaching the impact of implicit bias on the delivery of veterinary medical services. Because overt enhancement of self-awareness is not fodder for traditional veterinary medical education delivery systems, in this article we review existing literature on the impact of recognition of implicit bias on health care and offer insights on ways to help veterinary students learn this skill, drawing on evidence from an inter-professional intervention called WisCARES (Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education, and Social Services).

Cultural humility debriefing provides learners with the opportunity to consider how they engage with clients and patients while keeping their own identities and biases in mind. In this article, we invite a deeper understanding of the cultural humility debrief by reviewing its history and uses, describing the state of mind and communication skills required for successful facilitation, and providing a step-by-step process as a framework for veterinary educators to implement effective cultural humility debriefing in practice. This teaching technique is rooted in established communication tools—specifically, permission seeking, open-ended questions, reflective listening, and empathy. Drawing on experience from an inter-professional clinic that serves people who live at or below the national poverty level, this article offers insights to veterinary educators so they can use the cultural humility debrief. By utilizing the outlined debriefing strategies in a clinical setting, it is possible to augment any existing veterinary curriculum and strengthen education around cultural topics.

This pilot survey study describes student expectations and experiences at WisCARES, a low-cost veterinary medical teaching clinic where students from multiple disciplines collaborate. We hypothesized that prior to the workday, students would describe different expectations of working in an interdisciplinary access to care clinic than what they ultimately experienced. We surveyed 62 students from the School of Veterinary Medicine (46) and pharmacy (16) who spent a clinic day at WisCARES. Before introductory rounds, students completed a short survey consisting of four open-ended questions about their learning expectations; at the end of the day, they reviewed their initial responses and added what they actually learned. Qualitative information was categorized and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Thirteen major themes emerged: diversity, confidence, communication, case lead/case management, financial experience, helping people, teamwork, technical skills, inter-professional experience, mentoring, non-specific positive regard, appreciation for resources, and rounds. Students reported improved confidence in managing and leading cases with specific positive outcomes in communicating with clients, particularly regarding leading financial conversations. Developing greater insight into diversity was a common theme expressed in students’ expectations but was less frequently noted as an end-of-day outcome. Veterinary students less frequently described the value of the inter-professional environment and collaboration, but this was a major theme noted among pharmacy students. Student feedback was positive overall. The current study is useful in identifying areas for improving collaborative instruction and access to care professional student learning opportunities.