Study explores simulation’s role in preclinical veterinary training: full analysis

A new study in Veterinary Sciences is putting fresh attention on simulation as a way to strengthen preclinical veterinary education. The paper, “Exploring Competency Development Through Simulation-Based Preclinical Training in Veterinary Education,” describes a teaching model that used virtual planning and a 3D-printed canine skull to help students work through a complex cranial tumor case before entering live-animal clinical settings. The authors conclude that simulation-based frameworks may be a safe, transferable, and educationally useful way to support competency development in anatomy, spatial reasoning, and anatomical-surgical thinking. (mdpi.com)

The work reflects a broader shift already underway in veterinary education. Traditional lecture-plus-lab formats can struggle to teach complex three-dimensional anatomy and procedural thinking, particularly when specimen access is limited or when programs are trying to reduce reliance on live animals and make training more repeatable. In the new study, the authors frame simulation as a response to those pressures, arguing that preclinical education needs more active-learning approaches that better connect knowledge, technical skills, and clinical reasoning. (mdpi.com)

For the study itself, the researchers built a reproducible, low-cost workflow around a real canine case of extra-genital transmissible venereal tumor with frontal bone invasion, used only as a teaching scenario. Fourteen veterinary students from the same institution participated. Group A received traditional instruction, including cadaveric specimens but no 3D-printed model. Group B trained with virtual planning and a 3D-printed cranial model. Rather than reporting inferential statistics, the paper uses structured observation, competency mapping, and a Likert-style survey to describe how students interacted with the material and how they perceived the experience. (mdpi.com)

The main finding was directional rather than definitive: students in the simulation-supported group were described as engaging in more hands-on three-dimensional exploration and more applied anatomical-surgical reflection than those in the conventional teaching condition. Survey responses from the model-supported group also showed high engagement, interest, perceived usefulness, and perceived academic confidence. The paper positions those gains as especially relevant for anatomically complex cases, where students must connect imaging, pathology, and surgical planning in a way that flat images often don’t fully support. (mdpi.com)

That fits with what other veterinary education studies have been finding. A 2023 two-center study in Veterinary Clinical Pathology reported that simulator-based cytology training significantly increased student willingness to perform fine-needle aspiration on live animals, with OSCE pass rates above 90% for most FNA steps. A 2025 study on calving education found that students were most confident and most likely to pass OSCE-style assessment when simulator practicals were blended with video instruction. And a recent review of bovine reproductive simulators concluded that simulation offers structured, repeatable practice, while also cautioning that validation standards and long-term evidence of transfer to practice remain inconsistent. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Industry and academic practice are moving in the same direction, even if formal evidence is still catching up. At the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, for example, faculty have described using low-cost teaching models for anatomy, venipuncture, catheter placement, and spay-neuter preparation, with the explicit goal of helping students progress before working with live animals. Cornell has also highlighted simulation models in surgical rotations as a way to let students rehearse procedures they might not otherwise perform before graduation. Those examples don’t validate this new paper on their own, but they do show how simulation is becoming embedded in veterinary skills training. (vetmed.wisc.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary educators, practice leaders, and clinicians who mentor students or new graduates, this study speaks directly to workforce readiness. Accreditation and competency frameworks increasingly expect graduates to arrive with stronger day-one practical and clinical reasoning skills, and simulation offers one way to standardize exposure when caseload, specimen availability, or ethical constraints limit repetition. The tradeoff is that enthusiasm should be tempered by the study’s design: this was a small, descriptive educational experience involving 14 students, not a randomized outcomes trial. So the signal is useful, but it’s early. (mdpi.com)

What to watch: Expect more attention on whether low-cost 3D-printed and virtual-planning models can be scaled across curricula, and whether future studies can show measurable gains in OSCE performance, clinical rotation readiness, or day-one competence rather than learner satisfaction alone. (mdpi.com)