Survey of clinician and student impressions of a synthetic canine model for gastrointestinal surgery training

Objective To evaluate the perceived efficacy of a high‐fidelity synthetic canine model for simulating common gastrointestinal surgical procedures. Study design Survey of students and experienced clinicians. Sample population Twelve clinicians with >2 years of postgraduate experience in the field of small animal surgery and 102 senior year veterinary students. Methods The model was subjectively evaluated by 12 clinicians with >2 years of postgraduate experience in the field of small animal surgery. Senior year veterinary students (n = 102) were asked to complete questionnaires before and after a laboratory on common gastrointestinal surgical procedures that included rating of perceived proficiency, anatomical knowledge, and the use of synthetic models compared with live animals. Results Clinicians assessed most aspects of the model as moderately realistic and unanimously agreed that it would be helpful for students to train on this model prior to live surgery. Student survey response rates were 91% and 99% before and after the laboratory, respectively. The proportion of students that felt moderately‐to‐highly proficient with the procedures increased from 8% prior to the laboratories to 59% after the laboratories (P