Pan-European soft skills curriculum

for undergraduate veterinary education

"The goal of this project is to create a framework that will enable veterinary students with skills to cope with challenges imposed on them by the ever changing world and the enormous strain the profession puts on them. That way, they will be  well prepared for real-life challenges in their future working environment."
Idea behind the project

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

Objectives

Develop

Develop recommendations of soft skills competences for veterinary students, new soft skills Pan-European curriculum for veterinary universities, & training concept for education of teachers involved in veterinary education.

Implement

We will implement pilot modules of the new soft skills curriculum at partnering veterinary universities.

Evaluate

We will evaluate the outputs and their impact on both target groups, students and teachers.

Disseminate

We will disseminate the intellectual outputs amongst veterinary schools of EU through online platforms and veterinary education associations (FVE, EAEVE, VETNEST).

Intellectual outputs

Motivation for partaking in the project

I believe that life skills are currently one of the most important things we should discuss in veterinary medicine education (yeah, One health, zoonoses, antibiotic resistance, exotic diseases and animal welfare are also important). But this feels like a burning issue amongst students and veterinary professionals. I hope our project sets a path towards quick and efficient modernisation of veterinary professional life.
Lada Radin, DVM, PhD, VEFUNIZG, project coordinator
So delighted that I will be working on a new project: "Pan-European soft skills curriculum for undergraduate veterinary education" with these great partners  with
Christin Kleinsorgen, DVM, PhD, TIHO
Against the background of rapid change in veterinary sciences and practice, graduates do not only need excellent medical competences but also well-developed life skills. At Vetmeduni Vienna we are convinced that skills in the area of communication, digitalization, and entrepreneurship are not only central for dealing with the changing environment but also for actively shaping the future of veterinary sciences and practice.
Mag. Dr. Evelyn Steinberg, Vet Med Uni Vienna
The project is very exciting. Besides teaching our professional topics it is always good to renew ourselves and get involved in something which forces veterinary education forward. Including soft skills in our curricula meets the demand from the society and our students who want to be well prepared not only in their profession, but also in life skills.
prof. Mira Mandoki, Uni Vet Med Budapest
University professors teach all the aspects of veterinary profession and they think that communication skills will be acquired as a collateral effect of teaching basic sciences or clinical subjects. We must realize, this does not work like this. This project brings the teaching of life skills to a system level. I find this project inevitable.
prof. Tibor Bartha, Uni Vet Med Budapest

News from SOFTVETS team and related topics

If you are interested to read about latest news and developments in our SOFTVETS project scroll down!
See blog
Two weeks of teacher training activities
Beginning of February 2020 was quite eventful for SOFTVETS project team, as well as our teachers from implementation partners, which…
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24th Graz Conference on Medical Education
Graz conference, which was started in 1995, is a unique conference about trends and needs in higher medical education. Although…
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4th meeting of the team in Budapest
As the year 2019 was approaching its end, the SOFTVETS project team met in Budapest for our 4th meeting. The…
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Project partners

Meet the team that is going to bring veterinary education to a completely new level!

Additional partners

IVSA Standing Committee on Veterinary Education, SCoVE

SCoVE has an philosophy to create material to assist students in the veterinary education. Due to their involvement in issues of improving veterinary education worldwide they present a valuable partner and a voice of numerous veterinary students.

The Medical University of Vienna is the largest medical school in the world. Thanks to the triple track of education, research and patient care research results and their practical application are directly integrated into the teaching.

Contact us

Address
EU funds office, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Contact
Lada Radin lada_radin@vef.hr

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication (communication) reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.