Surgical confidence and competence among US veterinary students after a high-volume sterilisation campaign in rural...

To evaluate whether participation in a high-volume sterilisation campaign increases veterinary students' confidence in surgical and anaesthetic skills. We hypothesised that the intervention would improve confidence across key domains and lead to satisfactory technical competence.

Prospective, observational pre-post-intervention study.

Field-based surgical campaign conducted over 10 days in eight rural communities in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico.

Thirteen fourth-year veterinary students from two US universities volunteered to participate. Inclusion required students to be in their final year of training; all the students completed the study.

Participants engaged in a 10-day sterilisation campaign, assisting in pre-, intra- and post-operative care under the supervision of licensed veterinarians. Surgical procedures focused on ovariohysterectomy and orchiectomy in dogs and cats.

The primary outcome was change in self-reported confidence across 11 surgical domains, measured pre- and post-intervention using a 0-10 Likert scale. The secondary outcome was technical competence, which was assessed on the final day using a modified Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills rubric covering five domains.

Significant increases in confidence were observed in 10 of 11 domains (Wilcoxon p < 0.05), with large effect sizes (r > 0.5). The highest effect was for ligating blood vessels (r = 0.877). Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scores showed consistent proficiency, with domain means ranging from 3.58 to 3.94, and the strongest performance in instrument handling.

Field sterilisation participation increased students' surgical confidence and end-of-campaign competence, but single-site uncontrolled sample and self-report limit generalisability; larger multisite controlled studies are needed objectively.