Anagha N's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: Pet Vaccination Misunderstandings: Impact on Vet-Client Communication and Improving Pet Owner Literacy BASIS Advisor: John Goodwin Internship Location: Sugarloaf Animal Clinic Onsite Mentor: Dr. Rai, DVM

Project Abstract

In the sea of articles, blog posts, and pamphlets, information about pet health often doesn’t reach its audience. Sometimes it's the medical jargon, the lack of sources on a specific topic, or conflicting information that prevents accessibility. This leads to confusion for pet owners and conflict between them and the veterinarian during checkups. This research study aims to tackle the issue of pet owner literacy and the communication gap between vets and clients by finding out what pet owners misunderstand or don’t know about a specific aspect of veterinary medicine, vaccinations. This study will specifically focus on pet vaccinations because this is a common point of tension due to vaccine hesitancy and lack of accessible information. Once I find what pet owners misunderstand about vaccines, I will see how that affects the relationship between the vets and clients and how pet owner literacy can be improved.