Veterinary Students' Recollection Methods for Surgical Procedures: A Qualitative Study

When veterinary students face their first live animal surgeries, their level of anxiety is generally high and this can affect their ability to recall the procedure they are about to undertake. Multimodal teaching methods have previously been shown to enhance learning and facilitate recall; however, student preferences for recollection methods when translating theory into practice have not been documented. The aim of this study was to investigate veterinary students' experience with recollection of a surgical procedure they were about to perform after using multiple methods for preparation. From a group of 171 veterinary students enrolled in a basic surgery course, 26 students were randomly selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Results showed that 58% of the students used a visual, dynamic method of recollection, mentally visualizing the video they had watched as part of their multimodal preparation. A mental recipe was used by 15%, whereas 12% mentally visualized their own notes. The study provides new information regarding veterinary students' methods of recollection of surgical procedures and indicates that in Danish veterinary students, a visual dynamic method is the most commonly used. This is relevant information in the current educational situation, which uses an array of educational tools, and it stresses the importance of supporting the traditional surgical teaching methods with high-quality instructional videos.