Emotions in veterinary surgical students: a qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Education
• Surgical Skills Training
• Animal Welfare Education

Background:

• Surgical educational environments can induce stress, potentially hindering student learning.
• Understanding student emotions is crucial for optimizing surgical training.
• First encounters with live-animal surgery present unique emotional challenges for veterinary students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the emotions of veterinary students during their initial live-animal surgery experience.
• To identify key factors contributing to both positive and negative emotions in this context.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 155 fourth-year veterinary students during a Basic Surgical Skills course.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 of these students for in-depth emotional insights.

Main Results:

• A significant proportion of students reported experiencing both positive (58%) and negative (63%) emotions.
• Commonly reported emotions included excitement and tension (61%).
• Key factors influencing emotions were "being able to prepare well" (positive) and "lack of self-confidence" (negative).

Conclusions:

• Anxiety negatively impacts learning, while excitement can enhance focus and engagement.
• Interventions targeting preparation and self-confidence can mitigate negative emotions.
• Optimizing the surgical learning environment can improve student engagement and learning outcomes.