Utility of an Equine Clinical Skills Course: A Pilot Study.

This research on equine veterinary training was a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of a two-week hands-on Equine Clinical Skills course for final year vet students, aimed at improving their competence with common equine clinical procedures.

Study Background and Aim

• The study was initiated based on previous findings, which revealed gaps in the veterinary training received by future equine practitioners. The objective was to determine whether additional practical training in the form of a 2-week Equine Clinical Skills course could fill these gaps and enhance the skills and competence of veterinary students.

Course Structure and Participants

• The course was hands-on and utilized both live animals and cadavers to provide fourth-year veterinary students an opportunity to exercise and improve their clinical skills.
• Alumni who had taken the course, employers of these alumni, and students who had participated in the skill course were surveyed to gather data.

Measurements and Findings

• The researchers measured participants’ ability to perform clinical skills through surveys conducted before and after the course.
• Results showed that students who participated in the course rated their own abilities to perform clinical skills significantly higher after completing the course than before.
• On comparison with alumni who hadn’t taken the course, alumni that had undergone this training rated their abilities to perform clinical skills more highly.
• When asked about the clinical skills of the participants, employers did not indicate any noticeable difference between those who had taken the course and those who hadn’t.

Conclusions and Recommendations

• Despite positive self-assessments from the student and alumni participants, there was a disconnect with the employers’ perspective, indicating they did not see a significant improvement in clinical skills following the course.
• The researchers recognized limitations in their study due to the limited number of participants and the study being confined to a single institution.
• The researchers recommend that further studies should be conducted in other institutions and with a larger sample size to confirm these findings and to determine whether they are generalizable to wider contexts.