The origins of the VetEd Research Group at Bristol Veterinary School can be traced back to the arrival of Professor Sarah Baillie, who joined the School as Programme Director and Head of Teaching, and who played a pivotal role in encouraging staff to engage with educational scholarship. Through mentoring, collaboration, and gentle encouragement, she helped colleagues take their first steps into veterinary education research.
Early projects focused on areas such as assessment, feedback, and clinical skills training. These collaborations led to some of the group’s first publications and marked Bristol’s entry into the growing field of veterinary education research.
Building Momentum
As colleagues began attending veterinary education and medical education conferences, they discovered a wider community engaged in similar work. These experiences opened up new possibilities and highlighted the important contribution Bristol could make to the field as a leading veterinary school, and from here the VetEd Research Group steadily expanded.
Today, new colleagues on education-focused pathways are routinely invited to join the group, alongside staff with a broader interest in teaching and learning. Technical staff and professional services colleagues are also actively involved. What began as a small initiative has grown organically into a substantial community, with around 75 members connected through the group’s SharePoint site and a smaller core team driving ongoing research and scholarship activities.
How the Group Works
A key factor in the group’s success has been creating regular opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Annual Planning and Reflection Day
Each year, the group holds an “away day”. Although budget constraints mean that it is now held at Langford, and usually for half a day, it nevertheless provides protected time for colleagues to come together, reflect on progress, and plan future priorities.
Attendance typically reaches 30 to 40 colleagues, and the event often includes an external speaker. Discussions focus on updates from the group’s three main research themes, sharing project developments, and identifying priorities for the year ahead.
Regular Research Meetings
Every six weeks, the group holds informal lunchtime meetings where members can present ongoing work and receive feedback from colleagues.
On dates when there are no volunteers to present, the session becomes a journal club. Research papers are circulated in advance, and the group has embraced innovative approaches to engagement, including podcast summaries (using Google’s NotebookLM) that allow colleagues to interact with the material in ways that suit their schedules and learning preferences.
Conferences and Professional Development
Conference participation has become an important part of the group’s culture.
The Veterinary School supports attendance through a dedicated staff development fund, enabling between 10 and 15 colleagues to attend the 3-day UK Veterinary Education Symposium each year. The School even hosted the conference recently—a significant achievement and a major undertaking for the team.
Support also extends to international conferences, with several colleagues attending global events annually. These opportunities help staff build networks, share their work, and stay connected with developments across the field.
Overcoming Challenges
Like many educational research communities, the VetEd Research Group faces a number of challenges.
Perhaps the most significant is finding time for scholarship activities alongside demanding teaching and clinical responsibilities. Educational research often competes with other priorities, making it difficult for colleagues to move projects forward.
There is also considerable variation in research experience among staff. Many veterinary educators join academia from clinical practice and may have little experience of conducting research. Some have master’s degrees, while others have not had opportunities for formal research training.
To address this, the group has developed a strong culture of mentoring and collaboration. Colleagues are encouraged to work in teams, seek guidance from experienced researchers, and participate in professional development opportunities such as those provided through BILT.
Several staff members have completed the Master’s in Health Professions Education, delivered through the Medical School, helping them develop robust educational research skills and confidence.
The Importance of Funding
Training and mentorship are essential, but funding is equally important.
As researchers develop their skills, access to funding enables projects to grow through the recruitment of student researchers, research assistants, and associate staff. Over the past decade, the group has successfully secured approximately £350,000 in funding in total from a range of internal and external sources.
While modest compared with large disciplinary research grants, this level of funding has been transformative for educational research projects.
Importantly, the School’s leadership has consistently recognised the value of scholarship and educational research, investing in colleague development through conference support, innovation funding, and protected opportunities for professional growth.
Creating Visibility and Impact
The group has also developed practical systems to showcase its achievements.
A shared outputs database records publications, conference presentations, funding awards, and ongoing projects. This provides a clear overview of activity across the group, helps identify potential collaborators, and makes it easier to demonstrate impact.
The use of a dedicated VetEd Research Group tag in Pure has also increased visibility. Every publication associated with the group is automatically linked to its website, giving the group a prominent presence alongside the School’s traditional disciplinary research groups.
Achievements and Impact
The collective impact of the VetEd Research Group has been substantial.
Over the last decade, members have produced:
- More than 150 conference presentations
- More than 80 peer-reviewed publications
- Multiple book chapters
- Online educational resources and practical guides
- Research outputs focused on assessment, feedback, clinical skills education, and veterinary pedagogy
These achievements have significantly strengthened Bristol’s reputation within veterinary education.
However, the benefits extend far beyond publication metrics.
For individual staff members, involvement in educational research supports career progression, promotion, fellowship applications, and ongoing professional development. It provides opportunities to learn new skills, pursue areas of interest, and contribute to educational innovation.
Students benefit too. Many projects involve students as paid research assistants, collaborators, or participants. This creates a culture of continual evaluation and improvement, ensuring educational practice remains evidence-based and responsive to student needs.
Lessons Learned
Reflecting on the group’s journey, one lesson stands out above all others: start small and find your community.
The veterinary education research community is grounded in openness, generosity, and a collaborative spirit. For many colleagues, attending their first veterinary education conference is a transformative experience, revealing a welcoming network of educators eager to support one another and share ideas.
What began as a small group of interested colleagues has become part of a growing national and international movement within veterinary education. Bristol has played an important role in that development, helping to shape conversations about the future of teaching, learning, and assessment in the profession.
The group’s experience demonstrates that with supportive leadership, a strong mentoring culture, and a shared commitment to improvement, educational scholarship can thrive—and make a meaningful difference to colleagues, students, and the wider discipline alike.
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