CLARIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP OF VETERINARY MEDICAL-EDUCATION AND MORALDEVELOPMENT

Objective-To clarify the relationship between veterinary medical educa tion and moral development in response to 2 previous studies that pres ented conflicting evidence that the experience oi veterinary medical e ducation may inhibit moral development. Design-The Defining issues Tes t (DIT) was used to survey the moral reasoning of veterinary medical s tudents at the beginning and end of their education. Sample Population -First- and fourth-year veterinary medical students. Procedure-The mor al reasoning of 98 veterinary medical students was assessed at the beg inning of their first semester of veterinary medical education and aga in, 4 years later, at tile end of their last semester to determine whe ther their moral reasoning scores would reflect the expected maturity- related increases usually found at this age range and education level. Results-The DIT scores ranged from 8.3 to 70.0 for first-year student s and from 16.7 to 76.7 for fourth-year students. The first-year mean was 44.0 and the fourth-year mean was 45.4. The mean change of +1.45 p oints was not significant. Statistical analysis did not reveal any sig nificant correlation between the moral reasoning scores and age; howev er, there was a significant correlation between the moral reasoning sc ores and gender, with females scoring higher on the first and second t est. The difference in the rate of change between tests by gender was not significant. Conclusion-This study appears to confirm the findings of an earlier study suggesting veterinary medical education inhibits an increase of moral reasoning in veterinary medical students.