Teaching and Assessment of Clinical Reasoning Skills in a Case-Based Veterinary Cardiology Elective.

This article focuses on the implementation and evaluation of an explicit clinical reasoning (CR) curriculum within a large-enrollment elective veterinary cardiology course at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The 7-week curriculum, incorporating instructor-led lectures, case-based learning, and peer review using the Assessment of Reasoning Tool (ART), aimed to improve veterinary students' awareness, self-efficacy, and application of CR skills. Results showed significant improvements in students' self-efficacy and applied CR skills on cardiology cases as measured by peer and instructor assessments, although gains were not observed on non-cardiac case assessments. While students rated peer-review activities as less helpful than other course components, qualitative analysis indicated that peer review facilitated reflective learning and internalization of CR terminology. The study highlights the importance of explicit CR instruction, common terminology, and reflective feedback in veterinary education, while noting challenges related to assessment methods, context specificity, and the limited duration of the intervention.