| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立嘉義大學 === 獸醫學系研究所 === 103 === The first part of this study was to describe the demographics of veterinary students in Taiwan, and to determine which factors influenced the students’ career path choice. Data were collected from 2013-14 via survey questionnaire and in-depth interview, and the response rate was 98.0% (431/440). Twenty nine students was chosen purposively for in-depth interview. The respondents reported that companion animal (56.7 %) (CA), government (15.6 %) (G), and Food animal (11.5 %) (FA) and wildlife practice (8.7 %) (W) were the four most prefered career. The top 3 considerations for choosing a career in all fields were interest in a certain field, income and sense of accomplishment. The factors affecting career path choice in FA including gender (male) and government internship experience. Students understand the nature of her/his the most preferred career much more than that of her/his the least prefered career. These results suggest that enhancing students’ interest, internship experience and knowledge of a certain field might affect their career path choice.
The second part of this research investigate the essential competences required, and evaluate the competency gap between demanded and acquired of veterinary recent graduates in Taiwan. A delphi technique was conducted in 2014, including 44 semi-structured in-depth interviews and 80 delphi questionnaire surveys with experts from all veterinary fields. The results showed that basic knowledge, basic clinical practice, attitude / other common competencies and professional practice were essential for the industry. However, the results also indicated that there was a tremendous competency gap between demanded and acquired, especially the lack of clinical practice skills in food animal practice. This study developed a clear competency standards for veterinary students as a learning tool with practice-oriented goals, and provided veterinary educational authorities with an accordance to modify curricula and outcome assessment strategies.
Key words: Career path choice, competency gap, essential competencies
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