Why Veterinary Programs Are Turning to Simulation Alongside Live-Animal Labs

Veterinary education has always been dependent on hands-on learning.

Students need more than knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and disease processes. They also need opportunities to develop practical skills, apply what they have learned, receive feedback, and progressively demonstrate the competencies expected of veterinary graduates.

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges’ Competency-Based Veterinary Education (CBVE) 2.0 framework describes contemporary veterinary education as outcomes-based and learner-centered, with competencies, developmental milestones, and assessment helping programs guide students toward professional practice.

Live-animal experiences remain an important part of veterinary education. At the same time, veterinary schools are incorporating models, task trainers, synthetic cadavers, and other simulation-based approaches into veterinary skills education.

The reason is not simply technology.

Simulation can give educators another way to structure practice, provide feedback, repeat procedures, and introduce students to clinical skills before those skills are applied in more complex settings.

Why Are Veterinary Programs Using More Simulation?

The AAVMC Use of Animals in Veterinary Education Handbook recognizes that some educational uses of animals can be replaced by alternatives such as models or technology, while other uses remain important for providing professional-level training. Its guidance encourages institutions to evaluate animal use and consider alternatives where appropriate while maintaining student competence and protecting animal welfare.

That distinction is important.

The question is not whether simulation should replace every live-animal experience. It is whether a live animal is necessary to accomplish a particular learning objective.

For some skills, a model may provide an effective opportunity for initial practice. For other objectives, working with a live animal may provide educational value that cannot be reproduced by a simulator.

The best educational approach depends on what the student is expected to learn.

Simulation Gives Students an Opportunity to Practice Before the Stakes Are Higher

Learning a clinical skill for the first time can involve considerable trial and error.

A student may need to learn how to position their hands, handle equipment, identify anatomical landmarks, coordinate multiple steps, or recognize whether a technique has been performed correctly.

Simulation can provide a controlled environment for that initial learning.

At Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, simulation training is woven throughout the DVM curriculum. Cornell describes its simulation center as an environment where students can practice skills such as physical examination, auscultation, catheter placement, monitoring, CPR, and emergency procedures with lifelike patient simulators.

Cornell also specifically describes its use of high-fidelity simulators as providing low-stakes opportunities for students to make mistakes, receive feedback, and practice before working with live animals.

That creates an important educational progression: students can begin developing a skill before they are expected to apply it in a live-animal setting.

Repetition Is One of Simulation’s Biggest Advantages

Clinical skills require practice.

The AAVMC handbook specifically identifies deliberate and repeated practice as an advantage of models and other alternatives to live-animal teaching. Models can provide opportunities for students to practice and refine skills in situations where repeated practice using live animals may not be ethical or feasible.

This is particularly relevant when students are developing a procedure for the first time.

A model can be used repeatedly. The instructor can observe the learner, provide feedback, and allow the student to repeat the procedure.

That creates a useful learning cycle:

Practice → feedback → adjustment → repeat.

The objective is not repetition for its own sake. It is purposeful practice directed toward a defined learning outcome.

That approach fits naturally within competency-based veterinary education. AAVMC defines competencies as observable abilities that integrate knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes and can be measured and assessed as learners progress.

Simulation Can Reduce Unnecessary Animal Use

Animal welfare is another important consideration.

The AAVMC’s guidance on animal use in veterinary education emphasizes the principles of replacement, reduction, refinement, and respect. The organization recommends that institutions evaluate animal use and consider alternatives for non-essential uses where appropriate.

That does not mean eliminating animals from veterinary education.

The same guidance recognizes that some animal use remains important for providing professional-level training. Live animals can provide authentic opportunities to develop skills involving animal handling, physical examination, palpation, behavior, and other aspects of patient care that models cannot completely reproduce.

Simulation therefore has an important role in areas where it can effectively accomplish the learning objective without requiring a live animal.

At UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, for example, the Clinical Skills Laboratory provides students with access to models and task trainers for developing skill competency through practice.

The AAVMC handbook also describes models as useful for repeated practice, standardization, and teaching skills before students progress to more complex clinical experiences.

Simulation Can Make the Learning Experience More Consistent

Another advantage of simulation is standardization.

Every live animal is an individual. Anatomy, temperament, behavior, physical condition, and response to handling can vary.

That variability is valuable because veterinary professionals ultimately need to learn to work with individual patients.

But early skills training may benefit from a more controlled learning environment.

The AAVMC handbook discusses the benefits of standardization when models are incorporated appropriately into veterinary curricula and emphasizes matching model fidelity and complexity to the learner’s stage of development.

For a novice learner, a focused model can isolate one component of a procedure.

As the learner develops, educators can introduce more complexity.

That progression aligns with AAVMC’s CBVE milestones, which describe learner development from novice through advanced beginner, competent, and proficient levels. AAVMC identifies the novice milestone as the minimum expectation for entry to clinical rotations and the competent milestone as the expectation for day-one practice.

Simulation Can Support the Transition to Real Patients

One of the strongest arguments for simulation is not simply what happens in the simulation lab.

It is what can happen afterward.

In a 2024 study reported by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, researchers compared veterinary students who received traditional instructional materials with students who received those materials plus a two-hour simulation laboratory using a high-fidelity feline surgical model before performing spay procedures on rescue cats.

The simulation-trained group had shorter operating times and higher self-reported surgical confidence. Cats treated by students in the simulation-trained group also had lower pain scores and required less pain management.

That does not mean simulation guarantees better clinical performance.

It does provide an example of simulation-based preparation being associated with differences in student performance and live-animal outcomes.

For veterinary educators, that is an important distinction.

The value of simulation is not simply that students enjoy practicing with a realistic model. The larger question is whether the experience helps prepare them for the increasingly complex clinical experiences that follow.

Simulation Does Not Replace Live-Animal Education

This is perhaps the most important point.

Simulation should not be framed as universally replacing live-animal education.

The AAVMC handbook explicitly recognizes that some live-animal experiences remain important for professional-level veterinary training and describes live animals as providing authentic contexts for learning areas such as animal handling, clinical examination, and palpation.

Instead, veterinary education can use a progression of learning experiences.

A student may first learn the relevant anatomy and theory.

They may then observe a demonstration.

Next, they can practice the technical components of a skill using a model or task trainer.

After receiving feedback and developing the foundational technique, they can progress to more complex simulated scenarios.

Finally, they can apply those skills in appropriate live-animal and clinical experiences under the supervision required for their level of training.

This progression is consistent with competency-based veterinary education, which emphasizes developmental progression toward defined learner outcomes. AAVMC’s CBVE framework is specifically designed around competencies, milestones, entrustable professional activities, and assessment rather than simply time spent in training.

Choosing the Right Simulation for the Learning Objective

More technology does not automatically mean better education.

A high-fidelity simulator may be appropriate for one learning objective while a simple task trainer may be more effective for another.

The AAVMC handbook emphasizes matching the fidelity and complexity of models to the learner’s stage of development and educational objective.

For educators evaluating a veterinary simulator, the first question should therefore be:

What should the student be able to do after using this training tool?

From there, other considerations become easier to evaluate:

• Does the model represent the anatomy or procedure appropriately?
• Can students practice the skill repeatedly?
• Can the instructor observe and provide feedback?
• Is the level of realism appropriate for the learner?
• Can the trainer support the specific learning objective?
• Can the experience be incorporated into skills assessment or progression?

The equipment should serve the educational objective – not the other way around.

The Future of Veterinary Clinical Skills Education

Veterinary education does not have to choose between meaningful experiences with animals and effective simulation.

The strongest approach may be one that uses both intentionally.

Simulation can provide controlled opportunities for practice, repetition, feedback, and skills development. Live-animal and clinical experiences can then introduce the biological variation, behavior, handling, clinical reasoning, and patient-care realities that models cannot fully reproduce. The AAVMC’s guidance supports evaluating both approaches according to their educational purpose and using alternatives where appropriate while maintaining student competence.

Simulation is another way to help students learn, practice, and prepare for the patients they will eventually care for.