{"title":"Personality and Success in a First-Year Veterinary Gross Anatomy Course.","authors":"Melissa Kehl, Sarah Hooper, Sanet H Kotze","doi":"10.3138/jvme-2025-0127","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Researchers are increasingly paying attention to non-cognitive ways to determine a student's ability to succeed in graduate studies. This study investigated associations between the Big Five personality domain scores and academic performance in Gross Anatomy I (GA1) at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. Within the first 2 weeks of the semester, a researcher-developed survey instrument was used for psychological assessment of the Big Five personality domains. Survey domain scores were compared with students' final GA1 course grades. Conscientiousness was positively associated with final numerical grade, whereas openness was negatively associated with final numerical grade. These findings suggest that personality traits may influence early academic performance in veterinary anatomy and highlight opportunities for targeted academic support. Educators may support student success by emphasizing structured study behaviors, time management, and prioritization of core material early in the course.</p>","PeriodicalId":17575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of veterinary medical education","volume":" ","pages":"e20250127"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of veterinary medical education","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2025-0127","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Researchers are increasingly paying attention to non-cognitive ways to determine a student's ability to succeed in graduate studies. This study investigated associations between the Big Five personality domain scores and academic performance in Gross Anatomy I (GA1) at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. Within the first 2 weeks of the semester, a researcher-developed survey instrument was used for psychological assessment of the Big Five personality domains. Survey domain scores were compared with students' final GA1 course grades. Conscientiousness was positively associated with final numerical grade, whereas openness was negatively associated with final numerical grade. These findings suggest that personality traits may influence early academic performance in veterinary anatomy and highlight opportunities for targeted academic support. Educators may support student success by emphasizing structured study behaviors, time management, and prioritization of core material early in the course.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Veterinary Medical Education (JVME) is the peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). As an internationally distributed journal, JVME provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, research, and discoveries about veterinary medical education. This exchange benefits veterinary faculty, students, and the veterinary profession as a whole by preparing veterinarians to better perform their professional activities and to meet the needs of society.
The journal’s areas of focus include best practices and educational methods in veterinary education; recruitment, training, and mentoring of students at all levels of education, including undergraduate, graduate, veterinary technology, and continuing education; clinical instruction and assessment; institutional policy; and other challenges and issues faced by veterinary educators domestically and internationally. Veterinary faculty of all countries are encouraged to participate as contributors, reviewers, and institutional representatives.