Clinical skills of veterinary students – a cross-sectional study of the self-concept and exposure to skills training in Hannover, Germany

BACKGROUND: Students of veterinary medicine should achieve basic professional competences required to practise their profession. A main focus of veterinary education is on developing clinical skills. The present study used the guidelines of the “Day-One Skills” list of European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) to create an online questionnaire for assessing the skills acquired by students at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo). The theoretical and practical veterinary knowledge levels of the students and postgraduates are determined and compared. RESULTS: In two batches, 607 people responded (response batch 1, 23.78%; response batch 2, 23.83%). From 49 defined skills, 28 are actually practised during training at the university and 21 activities are known only theoretically. Furthermore, the students showed great willingness to use simulators and models in a clinical skills lab. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this survey highlight that the opening of a clinical skills lab at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and its incorporation into the study programme are ideal tools to promote practical competences and foster the motivation to learn. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-014-0302-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.