A Model for Improving Student Confidence and Experience in Diagnostic Sample Collection and Interpretation

Abstract

Confidence and proficiency in diagnosing and treating a variety of diseases is of obvious importance to veterinary students. Traditional teaching methods relying on live-animal laboratories or teaching-hospital cases may not provide the breadth and depth of experience necessary to promote optimal development of confidence and skills. These settings also raise concerns about expense, about animal welfare when animals are used in teaching laboratories, and about the stress and potential risks associated with client-owned pets in the teaching hospital. A one-week course implemented in our veterinary curriculum provides the opportunity for students to develop self-assurance and experience in sample collection and interpretation skills in a realistic, clinical-model setting. This course provides students with significantly improved levels of confidence when performing procedures and interpreting results from a variety of procedures and helps prepare them to become clinicians entering the practice of veterinary medicine.