Use of Actors or Peers as Simulated Clients in Veterinary Communication Training

Using simulated clients is an effective teaching method for training and assessing communication skills in veterinary education. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of actors and peers in communication skills training in veterinary medicine. For this purpose, the subjective perception of the use of actors was assessed in a first study using a paper-based self-evaluation survey. In a second study, different groups of veterinary students who trained their communication skills with actors or peers were compared in an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (eOSCE) assessment with regard to their outcomes of communication proficiency. All participants reported the actors to be helpful and supportive in learning communication skills. Above all, participants highly rated the achieved authenticity when using actors as well as feedback sessions. Regarding the comparison of actors and peers as teaching methods, no significant difference in the performance of veterinary students in an eOSCE was identified. Despite the lack of objective evidence, both methods may be considered valuable and accepted teaching tools. Training with peers gives students an opportunity to learn how to conduct structured history interviews and to understand pet owners' motives at an early stage of undergraduate veterinary training. Change of perspective is considered a positive training element. However, when portraying authentic and standardized emotions and reactions and giving formative feedback based on the pet owners' internal perspectives, actors are beneficial for training advanced veterinary students and graduates in difficult conversation topics.