UCVMRESEARCH
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University of Calgary · Veterinary Medicine

This week in research.

14 Sep – 21 September 2026 From the archive

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06UCVM authors
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Factors influencing veterinary student interest in equine practice in the United States: A focus group study — Equine Veterinary Journal (2026-09-18); cohort author: Jean–Yin Tan - Grounded in Conservation of Resources theory, the study finds structured mentorship, supportive work environments, and work–life balance bolster interest in equine practice. - Barriers include gender bias, compensation concerns, student debt, and unrealistic client expectations. - Personal passion and positive early experiences with horses emerge as key motivators despite these barriers. Patient, family and health professional perspectives on shared decision-making for in-person versus virtual pediatric chronic pain care — Journal of Pain (2026-09-15); cohort author: Katherine E. Wynne–Edwards - The study involved 15 patients/families (8 youth; 7 caregivers) and 15 multidisciplinary health professionals, analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. - Perspectives diverge on decision-making for in-person vs. virtual care, underscoring the need to honor individual needs and partnership. - For patients/families, themes center on navigating care and aligning decisions with personal contexts; for health professionals, themes include clinical needs, engagement, clinician values, and decision context. Mismothering types in beef cattle: Identification, description and differentiating factors — Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2026-09-15); cohort authors: Jennifer M. Pearson; Maria Camila Ceballos; M. Claire Windeyer - Identifies and describes mismothering types in beef cattle and clarifies differentiating factors. - Provides a framework to distinguish these types across behavioural presentations. - Highlights implications for welfare assessment and management in beef production. Integrating Enteric Methane into Cattle Breeding Objectives for Climate-Smart Livestock Production — Environments (2026-09-15); cohort author: John P. Kastelic - Methane traits are moderately heritable and responsive to genetic selection. - Incorporating methane traits into breeding objectives could yield long-term emission reductions and economic value under evolving carbon-pricing regimes. - Realizing gains requires expanded phenotyping, standardized genomic evaluations, appropriate index construction, and international collaboration. By the numbers - Equine Veterinary Journal: 1 - Journal of Pain: 1 - Applied Animal Behaviour Science: 1 - Environments: 1 - Total works: 4

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Publications this week

4
Equine Veterinary Journal

Factors influencing veterinary student interest in equine practice in the United States: A focus group study · doi/link

UCVM authors Jean‐Yin Tan

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BACKGROUND: The number of new veterinary graduates entering equine practice in the United States continues to decline, and more than half leave the field within 5 years. Understanding the perspectives of veterinary students is critical for developing interventions that promote retention and long-term career satisfaction in equine medicine. OBJECTIVE: To explore what factors influence veterinary student interest in and commitment to equine practice using the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory as a guiding framework. STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured student focus groups. METHODS: Eighteen veterinary students who have considered or are actively pursuing equine medicine were recruited via snowball and convenience sampling to participate in virtual focus groups. Discussions were transcribed and analysed using Delve, where they were then coded in the context of the COR (condition, object, energy, and personal resources) Theory. A card sorting activity was used to rank the four resource domains in the COR Theory. RESULTS: Students emphasised the importance of structured mentorship, supportive work environments, and work-life balance. Barriers included concerns about gender bias, compensation, student debt, and unrealistic client expectations. Personal passion for equine medicine and positive early experiences with horses were key motivators for pursuing the field. MAIN LIMITATIONS: The study sample may not represent the diversity of veterinary student experiences across regions or schools. CONCLUSIONS: Veterinary students in the United States who are interested in equine practice face challenges related to work-life balance, mentorship, financial viability, and inclusivity. Despite these barriers, many students remain motivated by a desire to contribute something meaningful to the field and by positive early experiences with horses. Creating structured mentorship, increasing inclusivity in equine medicine, and addressing workload and compensation concerns may improve student retention and career satisfaction in equine practice.
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Journal of Pain

Patient, family and health professional perspectives on shared decision-making for in-person versus virtual pediatric chronic pain care · doi/link

UCVM authors Katherine E. Wynne‐Edwards

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Pediatric chronic pain disproportionately affects equity-denied groups (e.g., racialized, with disabilities). While virtual care may be more accessible for some, it can underserve those impacted by social disparities (e.g., low technology access). Moreover, youth and their families are not always included in treatment decisions for chronic pain. Understanding how virtual delivery impacts individuals of diverse sociocultural contexts is needed to deliver quality care. As part of a needs assessment for decision aid development, perspectives of patients/families and health professionals were gathered regarding decisional needs for in-person versus virtual pediatric chronic pain care delivery. Fifteen patients/families (eight youth with chronic pain, seven caregivers) and 15 multidisciplinary health professionals completed an online survey and semi-structured interview on virtual versus in-person care experiences. Purposive sampling was conducted for patients/families who are racialized or have complex medical needs and/or neurodevelopmental disabilities. Data were analyzed within each group using reflexive thematic analysis. Themes created from patients/families highlighted the need to consider: "individual patient/family needs and preferences"; "patients' struggles in navigating healthcare"; and "the importance of partnership in a paternalistic system". Themes generated from health professionals underscored the importance of: "individual clinical needs"; "patient engagement and adherence to care"; "clinician characteristics and values"; and "the decision-making context". Findings reflect differing perspectives between patients, families and health professionals on decision-making for in-person versus virtual delivery of pediatric chronic pain care. This study highlights the importance of increasing knowledge on virtual care and facilitating shared decision-making conversations to support more equitable, person-centred decisions around care delivery. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents the perspectives of patients, families and health professionals on decisional needs for in-person versus virtual pediatric chronic pain care. Though these varied due to individual, relational, and systems-level factors, results emphasized the need for more evidence to support decisions. Informed and collaborative decision-making can promote patient-centred care.
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Environments

Integrating Enteric Methane into Cattle Breeding Objectives for Climate-Smart Livestock Production · doi/link

UCVM authors John P. Kastelic

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Enteric methane (CH4) emissions from dairy and beef cattle are a major source of agricultural greenhouse gases, creating a need for mitigation strategies that are effective, permanent, and economically sustainable. This review evaluates the current status of methane traits in cattle breeding programs and examines opportunities and challenges associated with incorporating methane into national breeding objectives. Published evidence on methane phenotyping technologies, quantitative genetics, genomic prediction, economic valuation, and international breeding initiatives was synthesized. In addition, mechanistic forecasting and Monte Carlo simulation models were used to assess the potential long-term contribution of methane-inclusive breeding programs to greenhouse gas mitigation under different genetic gain and adoption scenarios through 2050. Available evidence indicates that methane emissions are moderately heritable and amenable to genetic selection, yet methane remains absent from most commercial multi-trait selection indices. Simulation analyses suggest that incorporating methane-specific traits into breeding objectives could generate cumulative and permanent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while increasing economic value under evolving carbon-pricing frameworks. Successful implementation will require expanded phenotyping, standardized genomic evaluations, appropriate index construction, and international collaboration. Integrating methane traits into national breeding objectives represents a practical and scalable strategy that complements nutritional, managerial, and technological mitigation approaches while supporting climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient cattle production.
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