Impact of Self-Directed Multimodal Digital Training on Veterinary Students' Ability to Interpret Equine Heart Sounds

Cardiac auscultation is a fundamental clinical skill for veterinary graduates; however, acquiring this competence remains challenging because opportunities for repeated exposure to a wide range of cardiac abnormalities may often be limited during undergraduate training. This study evaluated whether supplementing written self-directed learning with digital equine phonocardiographic recordings improves veterinary students' ability to recognize and interpret equine cardiac auscultation findings. Forty-one fourth-year veterinary students from the Universities of Milan and Pisa were voluntarily enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either written learning materials alone (Group 1, n = 21) or the same materials supplemented with digital phonocardiographic recordings (Group 2, n = 20). Participants completed a baseline test (T0). After a four-week self-directed learning period, 30 students (Group 1 = 15; Group 2 = 15) completed the post-training test (T1) and were included in the final analysis. The statistical analysis provided no significant differences for the total score (p = 0.064) or Q1 score (p = 0.349), whereas a significant difference was observed for Q2 score (p = 0.039), showing greater improvement in Group 2. These findings suggest a potential educational benefit of supplementing written learning materials with digital phonocardiographic recordings, particularly for the ability to distinguish among different cardiac abnormalities.