A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES

Service-learning, defined as integrating student education into academically relevant service activities to address a community need, is a way for students to learn and practice multiple skills. WisCARES (Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education and Social Services) is a service-learning clin...

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Main Authors: Elizabeth E. Alvarez, Ruthanne Chun, Jennifer W. Brooks, Kelly Schultz, Simon Lygo-Baker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1602028/full
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author Elizabeth E. Alvarez
Ruthanne Chun
Jennifer W. Brooks
Kelly Schultz
Simon Lygo-Baker
Simon Lygo-Baker
author_facet Elizabeth E. Alvarez
Ruthanne Chun
Jennifer W. Brooks
Kelly Schultz
Simon Lygo-Baker
Simon Lygo-Baker
author_sort Elizabeth E. Alvarez
collection DOAJ
description Service-learning, defined as integrating student education into academically relevant service activities to address a community need, is a way for students to learn and practice multiple skills. WisCARES (Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education and Social Services) is a service-learning clinic in which veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and social workers form an interprofessional team providing a unique educational opportunity within a One Health access-to-care clinic with care for both the veterinary patient and the client. In addition to hands-on experiences in spectrum of care medicine, veterinary students learn about poverty, homelessness, and social determinants of health, and how these impact clients’ decision making and ability to adhere to treatment recommendations. They also work with social workers to understand how moral stress and perfectionism can impact their physical and mental health and develop a self-care plan to address their own stressors. WisCARES’ goal is to help students develop into veterinarians who will be positive additions the profession by recognizing and challenging their own biases, and by consciously integrating access-to-care medicine into their future practice for the wellbeing of their veterinary team and the community they serve.
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institution OA Journals
issn 2297-1769
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Veterinary Science
spelling doaj-art-3a0a7564af8c41d9a8eb37b15c2712d72025-08-20T02:24:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692025-06-011210.3389/fvets.2025.16020281602028A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARESElizabeth E. Alvarez0Ruthanne Chun1Jennifer W. Brooks2Kelly Schultz3Simon Lygo-Baker4Simon Lygo-Baker5Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United StatesDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United StatesDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United StatesDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United StatesDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United StatesCenter for Education, King’s College London, London, United KingdomService-learning, defined as integrating student education into academically relevant service activities to address a community need, is a way for students to learn and practice multiple skills. WisCARES (Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education and Social Services) is a service-learning clinic in which veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and social workers form an interprofessional team providing a unique educational opportunity within a One Health access-to-care clinic with care for both the veterinary patient and the client. In addition to hands-on experiences in spectrum of care medicine, veterinary students learn about poverty, homelessness, and social determinants of health, and how these impact clients’ decision making and ability to adhere to treatment recommendations. They also work with social workers to understand how moral stress and perfectionism can impact their physical and mental health and develop a self-care plan to address their own stressors. WisCARES’ goal is to help students develop into veterinarians who will be positive additions the profession by recognizing and challenging their own biases, and by consciously integrating access-to-care medicine into their future practice for the wellbeing of their veterinary team and the community they serve.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1602028/fullone healthaccess to careveterinary education and researchsocial workVeterianaryservice learning and community partnerships
spellingShingle Elizabeth E. Alvarez
Ruthanne Chun
Jennifer W. Brooks
Kelly Schultz
Simon Lygo-Baker
Simon Lygo-Baker
A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
one health
access to care
veterinary education and research
social work
Veterianary
service learning and community partnerships
title A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
title_full A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
title_fullStr A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
title_full_unstemmed A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
title_short A unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional, One Health, access to care veterinary clinic: WisCARES
title_sort unique approach to fostering student wellbeing while supporting community needs through an interprofessional one health access to care veterinary clinic wiscares
topic one health
access to care
veterinary education and research
social work
Veterianary
service learning and community partnerships
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1602028/full
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