WELCOME TO BAYER ANIMAL HEALTH
COMMUNICATION PROJECT
The Institute for Healthcare Communication (IHC) is a nationally accredited, not-for-profit organization that has collaborated with hundreds of health care organizations since 1989 to train more than 150,000 physicians and other health care professionals throughout North America in effective communication skills.
In 2002, IHC expanded the scope of communication training to the field of veterinary medicine through a grant from Bayer Animal Health. The Bayer Animal Health Communication Project has been steadfast in its commitment to address gaps in communication skills training within schools of veterinary medicine and in the practice community. Since June 2003, the project has developed 12 educational modules and training films on skill-based communications topics, trained 148 faculty from 34 schools of veterinary medicine in the United States, Canada and Australia. In addition, the Director and faculty trainers conduct numerous presentations at national, regional and statewide meetings.
The demand for communication training in the veterinary community remains strong. Given the overwhelming interest from schools of veterinary medicine, a competitive application process was implemented in 2005 to assure integration of communication skills within the veterinary curricula. Of the 34 schools that have benefited from the Bayer Animal Health grant for faculty training, 14 schools have sent additional faculty members to participate in training. Leading the effort is Michigan State University, who has invested in training 38 faculty members and will be holding onsite faculty training in August 2009 for the 3rd consecutive year. Other schools have also invested in additional faculty training including Texas A&M University wth 14 trained faculty members, 12 from Washington State University, 8 from The Ohio State University, and 5 from University of Tennessee. The Project is planning an onsite faculty training at University of Calgary which will also include faculty from neighboring Canadian schools Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Montreal, Ontario Veterinary College and Western College.
The Project is currently in the process of exploring a professional development strategy for expanding the skills-based communication training to a wider practitioner audience.
