Clinical skills of veterinary students – a cross-sectional study of the self-concept and exposure to skills training in Hannover, Germany

Abstract

BackgroundStudents of veterinary medicine should achieve basic professional competences required to practise their profession. A main focus of veterinary education is on developing clinical skills.The present study used the guidelines of the “Day-One Skills” list of European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) to create an online questionnaire for assessing the skills acquired by students at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo). The theoretical and practical veterinary knowledge levels of the students and postgraduates are determined and compared.ResultsIn two batches, 607 people responded (response batch 1, 23.78%; response batch 2, 23.83%). From 49 defined skills, 28 are actually practised during training at the university and 21 activities are known only theoretically. Furthermore, the students showed great willingness to use simulators and models in a clinical skills lab.ConclusionsThe results of this survey highlight that the opening of a clinical skills lab at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and its incorporation into the study programme are ideal tools to promote practical competences and foster the motivation to learn.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-014-0302-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Survey of Established Veterinary Clinical Skills Laboratories from Europe and North America: Present Practices and Recent Developments

“…7,38,41,61 Simulation and outcome-based education have also grown over the same period and have been reported to help ensure competence and confidence in graduates. 26,27,36,41,[43][44][45][46][47]51 . We developed a survey to gather information about some of the considerations and decisions made when setting up a veterinary clinical skills laboratory, and to report the current state of operation of some of these facilities.…”

“…[31][32][33][34] The combination of externally applied accreditation requirements and internally experienced educational challenges have made clinical educators and administrators recognize the need to "do more with less" and yet still produce a highly accomplished entry-level graduate with advanced technical skills. 25,30,[35][36][37] Clinical skills laboratories offer a number of benefits including being student-centered and supporting practice in a safe and relatively stress-free environment without the risk of harming animals. 7,38,39 The use of simulators and task-trainer models can improve the ethical standards in humane veterinary education, which is important given modern societal expectations.…”

“…48,49 Clinical skill laboratories allow frequent rehearsal of skills in a safe environment with timely feedback, help provide a more standardized training and, through access to models and supporting learning resources, enable students to supplement their opportunities to learn on animals. 36,[50][51][52][53] Also, as the delivery of final year rotations now varies between colleges (from being based primarily in veterinary medical teaching hospitals, to having a number of clinical placements in extra-mural studies, to all rotations being external), clinical skill laboratories can provide a way to allow students to learn and perform clinical skills under faculty supervision before needing to demonstrate skills in less controlled workplace environments.…”

Skills-Lab-Training in der Tiermedizin

“…Durch seine Eingliederung in die bestehende 10-wöchige Rotation in der Klinik für Kleintiere wurde für die Studierenden die Möglichkeit geschaffen, die an Simulatoren und Modellen erlernten Fertigkeiten auf lebende Patienten zu übertragen, anzuwenden und somit die Durchführung der Fertigkeiten stetig zu optimieren. Um eine Aussage treffen zu können, inwieweit sich die in mehreren Studien beschriebene Unzufriedenheit bezüglich der Vorbereitung auf die praktische tiermedizinische Tätigkeit durch dieses Skills-Lab-Training verbessern wird, sind weitere Untersuchungen notwendig (15,20,22,23). Daten zur Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung der Studierenden und zum Einfluss eines Skills-Lab-Trainings auf diese wurden im Zusammenhang mit dieser Studie erhoben und werden in Zukunft veröffentlicht.…”

La Iniciativa del Laboratorio de Habilidades Clínicas Veterinarias

“…As an alternative, models have an important role to play and complement learning in the clinical workplace. Students have reported being keen to utilise such resources to improve their skills (Rosch et al, 2014).…”