Surgical skills are an important competency for new graduates. Simulators offer a means to train and assess veterinary students prior to their first surgical performance. A simulated ovariohysterectomy (OVH) rubric’s validity was evaluated using a framework of content evidence, internal structure evidence, and evidence of relationship with other variables, specifically subsequent live surgical performance. Clinically experienced veterinarians ( n = 13) evaluated the utility of each rubric item to collect evidence; each item’s content validity index was calculated to determine its inclusion in the final rubric. After skills training, veterinary students ( n = 57) were assessed using the OVH model rubric in March and August. Internal structure evidence was collected by video-recording 14 students’ mock surgeries, each assessed by all five raters to calculate inter-rater reliability. Relationship with other variables evidence was collected by assessing 22 students performing their first live canine OVH in November. Experienced veterinarians included 22 items in the final rubric. The rubric generated scores with good to excellent internal consistency; inter-rater reliability was fair. Students’ performance on the March model assessment was moderately correlated with their live surgical performance ( ρ = 0.43) and moderately negatively correlated with their live surgical time ( ρ = −0.42). Students’ performance on the August model assessment, after a summer without surgical skills practice, was weakly correlated with their live surgical performance ( ρ = 0.17). These data support validation of the simulated OVH rubric. The continued development of validated assessment instruments is critical as veterinary medicine seeks to become competency based.

Simulation-based surgical training allows students to learn skills through deliberate practice without the patient risk and stress of operating on a live animal. This study sought to determine the ideal distribution of training sessions to improve short- and long-term retention of the skills necessary to perform a simulated ovariohysterectomy (OVH). Fourth-semester students ( n = 102) were enrolled. Students in the weekly instruction group ( n = 57) completed 10 hours of training on the OVH simulator, with sessions held at approximately weekly intervals. Students in the monthly instruction group ( n = 45) completed the same training with approximately monthly sessions. All students were assessed 1 week (short-term retention test) and 5 months following the last training session (long-term retention test). Students in the weekly instruction group scored higher on their short-term assessment than students in the monthly instruction group ( p < .001). However, students’ scores in the weekly instruction group underwent a significant decrease between their short- and long-term assessments ( p < .001), while the monthly group did not experience a decrease in scores ( p < .001). There was no difference in long-term assessment scores between weekly and monthly instruction groups. These findings suggest that if educators are seeking maximal performance at a single time point, scheduling instructional sessions on a weekly basis prior to that time would be superior to monthly sessions, but if educators are concerned with long-term retention of skills, scheduling sessions either on a weekly or monthly basis would accomplish that purpose.