Preparing RaiderVet students in communication skills to support animal, human, and ecosystem health

Today’s veterinarians must navigate rising client and societal expectations, zoonotic and biosecurity risks, economic pressures, agricultural sustainability concerns, and the growing prevalence of professional burnout and compassion fatigue. Preparing future veterinary graduates to meet these challenges is both essential and urgent. Veterinary clinical environments demand effective communication skills, relational competence, and coordinated care. The Texas Tech University (TTU) School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) addresses these critical demands through a competency-based curriculum that integrates foundational sciences, clinical proficiency, and professional development. Grounded in the RaiderVet Competency Framework, the program is designed to equip students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to thrive and overcome the current demands of veterinary practice. The curriculum centered around TTU SVM’s core values of community, integrity, kindheartedness, grit, and inspiration emphasizes 10 core RaiderVet competency domains: clinical reasoning and decision-making, individual animal care and management, animal population care and management, public health, communication, collaboration, professionalism and professional identity, financial and practice management, scholarship, and preclinical preparation.