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Unit of Study VETS1001 - Foundations of Veterinary Professionalism and Communication (2026)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    Students must be vaccinated against Q-Fever (including result testing) and Tetanus before starting this unit. Study Abroad students are not able to enrol in this unit. 1. This unit requires travel to off-campus locations. Check the Blackboard site for travel details, as some sites require additional travel time. Scheduled class times may appear longer as they include travel time. 2. To pass the unit, students must submit all assessment tasks. 3. Attendance: Attendance and participation are strongly linked to student success and retention. Students are encouraged to attend all classes and engagement activities to support learning, progression, and success as a veterinarian or veterinary technologist. For units with practicals or activities linked to developing AVBC Day One Competencies for veterinary accreditation, and VNCA Day One Competencies required for AVNAT registration, attendance is required. Specific attendance requirements will be communicated within the unit.

Unit description

This unit introduces first-year veterinary science and veterinary technology students to the foundational concepts, values, and practices that underpin professional identity and success in the veterinary profession.  Delivered through engaging tutorials, practical sessions, and collaborative iterative learning, students will be encouraged to develop academic and clinical readiness skills. To aid transition into the veterinary courses, we start by building awareness of academic scholarship, lifelong learning strategies through drilling into learning styles and study planning and reflective goal setting.  Professional attributes (such as teamwork, cultural awareness and communication), skills (such as biosecurity and biosafety) and knowledge (in critical thinking, clinical reasoning and evidence-based medicine approaches are introduced as part of programmatic assessment.  By the end of the unit, students will have a clear understanding of their professional responsibilities, be equipped with foundational tools for success in academic, field and clinical contexts, and be prepared to contribute to ethical, culturally aware, and evidence-informed veterinary care.

Unit content

  1. A career of scholarship
  2. A career of communication
  3. A career of inquiry
  4. A career of research and evidence
  5. A career of community
  6. A career of practice

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Lismore
Term1
Term1

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

describe fundamental theories of human learning and identify basic study strategies that support the development of effective learning skills and their relevance to life long learning and ongoing development in veterinary education and practice

recall and apply general principles, terminology, professional attributes and basic clinical skills that form the foundation of veterinary practise

apply and practice a range of communication strategies for effective, culturally, ethically and inclusively aware participation in veterinary practice and teamwork

practice collecting, collating and reviewing information using traditional research methods and artificial intelligence to demonstrate critical thinking and reflective practice whilst considering a diverse range of cultural or ethical perspectives in veterinary practice.

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.
Prescribed Resources/Equipment
  • No prescribed resources/equipment.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.