Veterinary Clinical Skills

For our two daughters, Grace and Kate. I am looking forward to again using evenings and weekends for the things you want to do! You are simply amazing and I am so thankful to be your dad.

And to my parents and friends who have supported and helped me through thick and thin. Life can be hard, but you make it easier.

Thanks to Emma for inviting me to join this project, it is one of many we have collaborated on over the years. It has been a pleasure as always. Thanks to my husband John who is so supportive in so many ways in all my endeavors at work and at home. And finally this book, and my ongoing enthusiasm for “all things” clinical skills, wouldn't be such fun without all the help from my colleagues in the clinical skills lab team at Bristol.

Stacy L. Anderson College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN, USA

Elizabeth Armitage‐Chan LIVE Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences and Services Royal Veterinary College Hatfield UK

Sarah Baillie Bristol Veterinary School University of BristolBristol, UK

Teresa Burns College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Alison Catterall Bristol Veterinary School University of Bristol Bristol UK

Kate Cobb School of Veterinary Medicine and Science University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington UK

Sarah Cripps School of Veterinary Medicine and Science University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington UK

Marc Dilly Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Justus Liebig University Giessen Giessen Germany

Robin Farrell UCD School of Veterinary Medicine University College Dublin Dublin Ireland

Andrew Gardiner Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Scotland UK

Rachel Harris Bristol Veterinary School University of Bristol Bristol UK

Jennifer Hodgson Virginia‐Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA USA

Steven Horvath College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Julie A. Hunt College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA

Keshia John School of Veterinary Medicine St. George's University Grenada West Indies

Jennifer T. Johnson College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA

Rikke Langebæk Department of Veterinary Clinical Science University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Rachel Lumbis Royal Veterinary College Hatfield UK

Susan M. Matthew Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Washington State University Pullman, WA USA

Missy Matusicky College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Catherine May Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa

Tatiana Motta College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Máire O’Reilly University College Dublin Dublin Ireland

Carolina Ricco Pereira College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Megan Preston College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA

Lindsey Ramirez College of Veterinary Medicine Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN USA

Emma K. Read College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH USA

Matt R. Read MedVet Worthington, OH USA

Alfredo E. Romero Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada

Elrien Scheepers Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Pretoria Pretoria, RSA

Jennifer Schleining College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Texas A&M University College Station, TX USA

Lucy Squire Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol Bristol UK

Jean‐Yin Tan Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada

Abi Taylor College of Veterinary Medicine North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC USA

Sheena Warman Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol Bristol UK

Catherine Werners School of Veterinary Medicine St. George's University Grenada West Indies

Lissann Wolfe School of Veterinary Medicine College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences University of Glasgow Glasgow UK

Our original vision for this book was to try to collate the content of many years of conversations that we have had with colleagues and students about Clinical Skills teaching and learning into a single, useful resource. Many of those discussions centered around what is known about how to teach and learn better – in essence, where to spend one's precious time, effort, and resources in order to see the best returns. To this end, we wanted to create a book that would appeal to both instructors and students and provide a broad overview of what is already known about teaching and learning Clinical Skills for those starting out so they had a good base from which to take the leap.

We have been fortunate to help institute modern clinical skills training programs into our own institutions at a time when they were just beginning to be implemented across veterinary medicine. In the early days, we learned by trial and error by adapting “hard knocks” lessons we had learned in private practice to our academic learning environments. As programs evolved, so did the research that proves that there is value in learning how to use best teaching practices to inform Clinical Skills instruction. However, even though so much has been published, clinical skills instructors are a generous group and much of the sharing of information still tends to be open source or available by simply asking a colleague. Websites, conferences, and Zoom calls all serve as a means for sharing what we have learned, making sure that someone else does not have to reinvent the wheel.

The basis for this book is that, despite all of the sharing of ideas and best practices that has occurred to date (or maybe as a result of it!), it can still be challenging for instructors and students to review what has been documented about teaching and learning Clinical Skills in one concise place. New instructors often feel overwhelmed with all there is to know about teaching and assessment and, although many teachers may not be new to veterinary medicine or to teaching Clinical Skills, it is the evidence‐based teaching of others that is novel and challenging. Students tackling clinical skills training are often overwhelmed with where to begin and how best to practice the huge volume of skills and procedures that a veterinarian needs to be able to perform following graduation. Although handbooks have been published that list skills and explain “how to” perform a variety of procedures, a concise reference that summarizes all that is known about teaching, learning, and assessing clinical skills all in one place has still been missing.

We hope that this book helps point newbies of all types in the right direction while also serving as a go‐to reference for experienced teachers. The enthusiasm and dedication to clinical skills training is as evident now as it was when it started over 10 years ago and we are immensely grateful to all of the authors who participated in this project and shared their expertise and experiences so openly. Together, we look forward to further innovations that will make even more confident and competent day‐one graduates who will be better prepared to treat the animals in their care.