Policy Brief No.2

This policy brief focuses on the importance of practical experiences to prepare students for potential career paths. All guest speakers emphasized that OH field-based learning or internship is the best way for students to gain critical skills and explore their career orientation. OH Alumni said that when considering for a job position or higher education fellowship, previous practical learning experiences are one of the priorities for employers.

By November 2021, more than 51,000 students have taken courses in OH and the OH Core competencies (OHCCs). The number of universities teaching OH courses and integrating OH into existing courses has increased gradually. To date, all 31 faculties of 25 member universities have introduced OH in one of these methods: OH as a compulsory course is taught at 8 universities, OH as an elective course is taught at 4 universities, and OH/OHCC
is integrated into existing subjects at 17 universities. In addition, VOHUN has organized 55 training courses on OH and OHCCs for 2,122 health and veterinary staff.

As part of the 10-year anniversary celebration, in November 2021, VOHUN held a talk show on career opportunities for OH students with the following objectives:

Offering ideologies to support students’ decision making; Identifying personal strength and setting goals; Highlighting the importance of self-improvement, continuous education and enhancing; OH capacity to meet future requirements; Discussing opportunities to choose a suitable job for a variety of interests.

The talk show was attended by 223 participants, including 2 students who shared their knowledge and skills gained before graduation, 7 alumni who shared their experiences applying knowledge and skills into work and 8 guest speakers who are students, lecturers and the private sector. The event was live streamed via the VOHUN Facebook fanpage to engage more interests. The talk show highlighted the importance of field-based, experiential learning activities to participants and identified ways for students to utilize knowledge and skills from these activities to develop their career opportunities and better support communities

OH is an interdisciplinary approach to work together across disciplines such as health, veterinary medicine and the environment to achieve the best possible health outcome for human, animals, plants and the environment. OH Core Competencies (OHCCs), covering eight domains, were identified by the South East Asian One Health University Network (SEAOHUN). The eight OHCCs are as follows: (1) Collaboration and Partnership, (2) Value and Ethics, (3) Leadership, (4) Management and Planning, (5) Communication and Informatics, (6) System Thinking, (7) Culture and Beliefs, and (8) Policy Advocacy

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