Veterinary Law & Ethics (15 hours)
All 3 required courses for Michigan license renewal bundled together, plus more!
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Overview
This course will provide continuing education on the three topics required for veterinarians in the State of Michigan: medical records, veterinary law, and controlled substance awareness training. It will also provide an overview of how veterinary professionals are regulated, focusing on client consent and communications, standard of care, and ethics. Additionally, veterinary ethical literacy will be enhanced through the use of case scenarios to help inform strategies for problem solving that decrease moral stress and improve the well-being of veterinary professionals and their patients.
Medical Record-Keeping
Medical record-keeping is a critical part of veterinary medical care. Participants will learn how to create a legally defensible medical record, ensure compliance with state, federal and association rules and regulations, become more proficient in communicating with clients and other veterinary medical professionals, and most importantly, improve patient care. By the end of the course students will be able to describe the benefits of good medical record-keeping, define the components of a professional medical record entry, identify requirements to comply with record-keeping principles, recognize practical tips for obtaining and documenting owner consent, and list strategies to improve their own record-keeping practices.
Veterinary Law
We will review the different laws and regulations that govern veterinary professional behavior. Students will be able to identify different ways veterinary professional behavior is governed; list steps in a state license disciplinary action; define the elements of a veterinary malpractice claim; explain the role of an expert witness; describe the application of the standard of care; match the factors that are considered in an award of damages; and list strategies to prevent legal issues from arising in clinical practice.
Controlled Substance Awareness Training
Using a One Health approach, participants will both learn how veterinarians can work together with their medical colleagues, clients, and local and national associations to help combat the opioid crisis, and complete required controlled substance awareness training. Although the Michigan training standards allow for content to be obtained from more than one program to ensure that the training covers all of the required material, this course covers all of the topics in one single online training. Students will learn how to prevent the potential risks of diversion through the development of a safety plan, educate clients on how to protect themselves and their pets’ medication, and implement strategies to keep charge over controlled substances.
The content has been approved by RACE for a total of 15 hours of continuing education credit in those jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval.
"I found these sessions to be both extremely informative and scary, especially as it concerns client consent. Thank you so much for making mandatory learning both clinically relevant and practical!"
- Erinn Williams, DVM, Macomb Veterinary Associates
Recent studies give rise to the concern that there is a lack of ethical literacy in the veterinary profession. Dr. Chelsey Shivley (MSU-CVM, Class of 2012) published an article in 2016 that found "other than professional ethics, veterinary school curricula largely exclude detailed or embedded applied ethical instruction."
In a 2014 survey, veterinarians reported substantial gaps in both their knowledge and education on opioids, and 64 percent said they had not completed continuing education on best practices for prescribing opioids since entering practice.
Your Instructor
Dr. Sarah Babcock (Michigan State University-College of Veterinary Medicine, Class of 2004) is a Michigan licensed veterinarian and attorney. She offers instruction in veterinary medical law and ethics as part of the traditional veterinary medical curriculum.
She provides both online and live continuing education to help her colleagues fulfill their lifelong obligation to the continual improvement of professional knowledge and competence, as well as satisfy state licensing requirements.
Dr. Babcock's active engagement in professional associations, academia, and small animal medicine helps to ensure that the courses offered are applicable to veterinary practice, reflect the needs of the profession, and encourage compliance with evolving veterinary medical law, ethics, and standards of care.