Case-Based E-Learning Tool Affects Self-Confidence in Clinical Reasoning Skills Among Veterinary Students—A Survey at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Veterinary education plays a crucial role in equipping veterinarians with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the challenges they will face in their professional careers. As part of enhancing the veterinary students' training in clinical reasoning, an online electronic veterinary clinic was introduced to a group of students during their final semester. This platform, called Veterinary eClinic, provides access to digital, real-life clinical cases, allowing students to apply their knowledge and develop critical thinking skills in a practical context. In this research project, the veterinary students were asked to assess how confident they felt in different clinical tasks related to a clinical investigation before and after using Veterinary eClinic. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was used when collecting data. The students answered pre- and post-use questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to elaborate on the quantitative results. Our results showed that the students were significantly more confident in making a problem list (<i>p</i> = .005), completing diagnostic tests (<i>p</i> = .022), making a diagnosis (<i>p</i> = .041), and performing assessments of animal welfare in the clinic (<i>p</i> = .002) after solving different clinical cases in Veterinary eClinic. As much as 97% of the respondents reported that Veterinary eClinic was a valuable learning resource in veterinary education, to a fairly large or very large extent. Our findings suggest that the use of a case-based e-learning tool might contribute to increased self-confidence in clinical reasoning skills.