Teaching Tip: Development of Veterinary Anesthesia Simulations for Pre-Clinical Training: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation Based on Student Perspectives

Abstract

Anesthesia simulations have been used in pre-clinical medical training for decades to help learners gain confidence and expertise in an operating room environment without danger to a live patient. The authors describe a veterinary anesthesia simulation environment (VASE) with anesthesia scenarios developed to provide a re-creation of a veterinarian's task environment while performing anesthesia. The VASE uses advanced computer technology with simulator inputs provided from standard monitoring equipment in common use during veterinary anesthesia and a commercial canine training mannequin that allows intubation, ventilation, and venous access. The simulation outputs are determined by a script that outlines routine anesthesia scenarios and describes the consequences of students' hands-on actions and interventions during preestablished anesthetic tasks and critical incidents. Patients' monitored physiologic parameters may be changed according to predetermined learner events and students' interventions to provide immediate learner feedback and clinical realism. A total of 96 students from the pre-clinical anesthesia course participated in the simulations and the pre- and post-simulation surveys evaluating students' perspectives. Results of the surveys and comparisons of overall categorical cumulative responses in the pre- and post-simulation surveys indicated improvement in learners' perceived preparedness and confidence as a result of the simulated anesthesia experience, with significant improvement in the strongly agree, moderately agree, and agree categories (p<.05 at a 95% CI). These results suggest that anesthesia simulations in the VASE may complement traditional teaching methods through experiential learning and may help foster classroom-to-clinic transference of knowledge and skills without harm to an animal.

Evaluation of anesthetic skills acquisition in pre-graduate veterinary students with different grades of anesthetic experience using veterinary simulation exercises

“…Score 1: constant guidance, Score 2: intermittent guidance, Score 3: on demand guidance and Score 4: no guidance. the session (10). As a consequence, the final time required by students having no prior anesthesia experience to complete their anesthesia tasks was significantly higher compared with students having prior clinical anesthesia experience.…”

“…The anesthesia and surgery course developed and implemented by our institution is a novel approach to training and integrates both anesthesia and surgery. Anesthesia is both stressful and demanding making the attainment of skill and knowledge critically important (10). Multimodal training courses in veterinary anesthesia employing simulation training with live animal experiences have been shown to provide a significant increase in student knowledge and self-efficacy (8).…”

“…Currently, veterinary educators recognize the challenge of teaching pre-clinical veterinary students with the necessary skills and knowledge to fit the requirements of veterinary medicine practice (9). All anesthesia simulation training has the primary objective of improving anesthetic performance and reducing the incidence of critical errors occurring during live animal anesthesia (10,11).…”

The Anesthetic Effect of Oral Administration of α-Chloroaldose and Dexmedetomidine on Silver Fox

“…Monitoring the circulatory and respiratory system during the clinical administration of anesthesia is an important aspect of evaluating the safety of anesthesia and can objectively and scientifically evaluate the effects of anesthetic drugs and delivery methods on the normal physiological functions of the body (14,20). If on-time measures are not taken to correct the abnormal changes in physiological parameters during anesthesia administration, this can lead to significant anesthetic complications in the peri-anesthetic period and may even lead to anesthesia failure (10,19). The significant temperature changes (T) seen in this trial were more closely related to α-chloralose, and similar changes in T were seen during anesthesia in dogs and wolves using this drug, which was associated with delayed receipt of the signal for significant inhibition by the brain thermoregulatory center; prompt warming measures are recommended during anesthesia to prevent the occurrence of postoperative chills (9,21).…”

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the influence of case analysis teaching in clinical anesthesia education

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis of the influence of case analysis teaching in clinical anesthesia education curriculum knowledge and can shorten the transition time from knowledge acquisition to the development of clinical skills, allowing students to adapt to the needs of future clinical work (3). The use of case analysis in anesthesiology education enables students to master anesthesia procedures during their studies and provides opportunities to discover, analyze, and solve problems, laying a strong foundation for future clinical anesthesia work (4).…”