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. This program, the Bayer Animal Health Communication Project evolved to create and sustain leaders in veterinary medicine with knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with clients and within the profession. The BAH Communication Project ("The Project") has been steadfast in its commitment to address gaps in communication skills training within schools of veterinary medicine and in the practice community through the development of educational modules. Since June 2003, the Project has developed 12 educational modules and training films on critical skill-based communication 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. Each of the schools selected have committed to the integration of communication skills within their existing 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 veterinary schools have also invested in additional faculty training including Texas A&M University who has trained 14 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.
