Assessment of a Teaching Module for Cardiac Auscultation of Horses by Veterinary Students.
Authors: Wood Alyse, Shapter Frances Marie, Stewart Allison J
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Teaching Equine Cardiac Auscultation to Veterinary Students Recognising that cardiac auscultation demands complex integration of anatomical knowledge, physiological understanding and pattern recognition, Wood and colleagues evaluated an audio-visual training module designed to improve veterinary students' competency in identifying common equine heart conditions. Over two years, fourth- and fifth-year students at the University of Queensland were given access to the learning resource, with 89 completing pre-intervention surveys and 57 completing post-intervention assessments; results were analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, thematic analysis and Leximancer software. Students showed significantly improved confidence and self-perceived competency in cardiac auscultation following the intervention, with particularly notable gains in murmur and arrhythmia identification (p < 0.001), and fourth-year students—who entered the module with lower baseline competency—demonstrated the greatest improvement relative to their fifth-year peers. The findings highlight a genuine gap in practical opportunities for equine cardiac examination throughout veterinary training, exacerbated by pandemic disruptions, and demonstrate that targeted, integrated audio-visual resources can effectively bridge this gap; for equine practitioners working with newly qualified vets, understanding these educational limitations may inform mentoring strategies and realistic expectations of graduates' auscultation skills.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Equine practitioners should be aware that newly graduated veterinarians may have limited practical experience with equine cardiac auscultation and may benefit from mentoring or continuing education in this skill
- •Teaching resources incorporating audio-visual components are effective for training equine auscultation skills; consider implementing similar approaches in practice settings for junior staff
- •Given pandemic-related training gaps, working with recent graduates requires patience and structured feedback opportunities to develop competency in identifying cardiac abnormalities
Key Findings
- •Audio-visual training resource significantly improved veterinary students' confidence and perceived competency in equine cardiac auscultation (p < 0.05)
- •Fourth-year students showed greater improvement in murmur detection compared to fifth-year students after resource completion (p < 0.001)
- •Students reported limited practical opportunities for equine cardiac auscultation training during their degree, exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic disruptions
- •Integrated audio-visual resources effectively address the gap in equine auscultation skill development