Workshops are a central part of the VetEd Europe 2026 programme and are designed as interactive 90-minute sessions focused on practical ideas, discussion, and shared experience in veterinary education.

Workshop registration will take place on site, at the registration desk, on the morning of each conference day. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

As places are limited, each workshop will have a maximum number of participants, depending on the room capacity and the format of the session.

Participants are therefore encouraged to register early on the day if they wish to attend a specific workshop.

Background: In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of clinical skills laboratories across Europe. These facilities play an important role in preparing veterinary students for safe, effective clinical practice, promote animal welfare, and support veterinary programmes in their quest to align with the EAEVE concept of ‘never the first time on a live animal’ (European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (ESEVT) Standard 6.1).
Workshop overview: This interactive workshop is designed for veterinary educators seeking practical strategies to promote student learning and assess competence in clinical skills.
The workshop will begin with an overview of the role of clinical skills labs and models within veterinary curricula, the current evidence-base, and the learning outcomes that such initiatives can support. In small groups, strategies for making the most of clinical skills laboratories will be discussed. The emphasis will be on promoting active learning and deliberate practice and designing effective supporting learning resources e.g. online flipped classroom for targeted pre-work to enhance student preparedness for learning in the clinical skills laboratory. The workshop will include an opportunity to make a simple surgical model. Finally, tips will be shared on how to assess student competence in clinical skills using Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), including marking schemes, examiner training and a demonstration.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have practical ideas and evidence-informed strategies to enhance student learning and assessment in veterinary clinical skills laboratories.

This interactive workshop explores the transformative potential of gamification and experiential learning in veterinary communication education. Grounded in experiential learning theory and principles of learner engagement, the session demonstrates how playful, hands-on activities can foster essential competencies for future veterinarians – particularly active listening, reflective practice, and collaborative communication.
Designed for up to 30 participants, the workshop integrates theory and practice through a dynamic sequence of interactive exercises. Participants can observe or engage in three different activities linking gamification and experiential learning to effective communication training in veterinary education. Following each exercise, guided reflection encourages participants to analyse their experiences – what worked, what didn’t, and why – thereby deepening their understanding of communication dynamics and consolidated learning.
The session concludes with a collaborative discussion on practical applications, enabling participants to identify actionable strategies for integrating gamified methods into their own teaching, whether in communication training or other disciplines within veterinary education.
By the end, attendees will have experienced playful learning techniques firsthand and gained inspiration for designing innovative teaching and experiential and engaging learning environments.
This workshop is ideal for educators seeking to enhance student engagement, promote reflective practice, and create dynamic, creative learning environments in veterinary medicine. No prior preparation or specialized training is required. Participants from all academic and professional backgrounds are welcome.

Background: In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of clinical skills laboratories across Europe. These facilities play an important role in preparing veterinary students for safe, effective clinical practice, promote animal welfare, and support veterinary programmes in their quest to align with the EAEVE concept of ‘never the first time on a live animal’ (European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (ESEVT) Standard 6.1).
Workshop overview: This interactive workshop is designed for veterinary educators seeking practical strategies to promote student learning and assess competence in clinical skills.
The workshop will begin with an overview of the role of clinical skills labs and models within veterinary curricula, the current evidence-base, and the learning outcomes that such initiatives can support. In small groups, strategies for making the most of clinical skills laboratories will be discussed. The emphasis will be on promoting active learning and deliberate practice and designing effective supporting learning resources e.g. online flipped classroom for targeted pre-work to enhance student preparedness for learning in the clinical skills laboratory. The workshop will include an opportunity to make a simple surgical model. Finally, tips will be shared on how to assess student competence in clinical skills using Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), including marking schemes, examiner training and a demonstration.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have practical ideas and evidence-informed strategies to enhance student learning and assessment in veterinary clinical skills laboratories.

Background
The competency-based approach has become the norm in veterinary education and most veterinary education programmes aim to enable students to acquire the various competencies necessary for professional success. In clinical practice, the veterinary student must be able to:
    See with their fingers, especially when palpating
    Assess the shape, size and consistency of healthy and diseased organs
    Clearly describe what they see to different people (owners, veterinary colleagues, etc.).
 These qualities are acquired through the use of 4 skills:
        Psychospatial representation
        Psychomotor reflexes
        Sense of touch
       Communication skills
To develop these 4 skills simultaneously and at a low cost, we have designed a simulation-based game called Devinekoi for students to learn skills commonly used by veterinarians including palpation, communication and teamwork. During this simulation-based learning workshop, students practice palpation skills relevant to a physical examination using low-cost and readily available objects, communication and collaboration through peer interaction. The set-up is designed as a fun, low-risk game and satisfaction surveys indicate the simulation is highly appreciated by students. Devinekoi® is a simple, efficient workshop format that can be adapted for different contexts including training multiple professions in one health.
Workshop overview
Participants will see step by step how to create and deliver a Devinekoi session. Participants will obtain a clear and precise roadmap, allowing them to set up efficient and sustainable Devinekoi kits in their own institution.
Session learning objectives
Participants will be able to:
   Create their own Devinekoi kits
   Organize and deliver a Devinekoi session.

The flipped classroom model aligns closely with the learning preferences of Generation Z, offering a dynamic alternative to traditional lecture-based instruction. Beyond transmitting lexical or factual knowledge, this approach fosters essential competencies such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and peer learning.
Yet implementing a flipped classroom is far from straightforward. Educators must not only structure disciplinary content coherently, but also design learning experiences that spark curiosity, frame tasks as meaningful challenges, and promote deep, activity-based engagement. For Generation Z learners – who tend to think in networks and require sustained cognitive stimulation – content must be both intellectually rigorous and experientially rich.
In this interactive workshop, we will demonstrate practical strategies for transforming a conventional, linear lesson into a flipped format. Using six medicinal plants as thematic anchors, participants will explore how digital tools can be effectively combined with tangible, “old-fashioned” visual aids. The session integrates mobile applications, physical plant samples, and paper-based resources, illustrating how multimodal design enhances engagement and retention. Playful, gamified elements will exemplify how motivation and challenge can be embedded into disciplinary learning.
Through this example, we argue that in contemporary higher education, instructors are no longer the sole source of knowledge. Instead, their role shifts toward designing meaningful learning environments that cultivate communication skills and collaborative problem-solving – competencies that are indispensable in students’ future professional practice.
By exploring some plants, the workshop invites participants to rethink their own pedagogical role as designers of transformative, student-centered learning experiences.

The teaching of veterinary anatomy underpins pre-clinical education, but is often perceived by students as overwhelming, particularly during revision periods where cognitive overload can hinder effective learning. Non-virtual serious games in anatomy education offer a promising approach to enhance engagement, reinforce knowledge and inspire students to develop alternative learning styles.
This interactive session will be facilitated by staff from the RVC Support Hub for Anatomy Research in Education (SHARE), offering insights into the use of gamification in pre-clinical education. We will explore three adapted game-based learning strategies: Pictionary®, crosswords and Wordotomy®, designed specifically for anatomy revision. Participants will first engage with these games, which have been implemented within our institution and received positive student feedback. Experiencing the games from a learner’s perspective will prompt reflection on their effectiveness and potential for implementation across a variety of international veterinary educational institutions, as revision tools and as part of the structured curriculum.
Participants will then work in small groups to design their own subject-specific educational games, tailored to their teaching context. This process will encourage creativity whilst attendees consider how such approaches could be integrated into existing curricula. Groups will then trial their games and compare their effectiveness to those experienced earlier in the session.
The session will conclude with a guided discussion exploring potential barriers to implementation, including time constraints, resource limitations and group dynamics. Structured reflection on learner and facilitator perspectives will follow. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and adaptable ideas for integrating game-based learning into their teaching practice.

A One Health Framework for Aquatic Veterinary Education
Laura D. Urdes, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania
Aquatic veterinary medicine is frequently identified as a “missing link” in veterinary curricula, yet it represents a critical frontier for public health and environmental sustainability. Fish tuberculosis, caused by atypical mycobacteria (e.g., Mycobacterium marinum) serves as an ideal pedagogical model for One Health implementation; it requires students to navigate the complex intersections of zoonotic risk, environmental persistence in biofilms, and the challenges of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic systems. This disease provides a unique opportunity to challenge traditional clinical boundaries and move educators toward a more holistic, interdisciplinary teaching approach. This is a 90-minute workshop which introduces the aquatic veterinary pedagogical model as a three-tiered approach to veterinary competency: i. Professional foundation: leveraging World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association (WAVMA) resources, including the CertAqV certification and externship pathways, to map professional development; ii. Clinical challenge: A technical deep-dive into aquatic epidemiology, transitioning from passive observation to active surveillance techniques, including high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring; iii. The synthesis: a stakeholder simulation where participants adopt roles—clinician, public health officer, economist, or ecologist—to apply a six-step One Health assessment framework to a complex clinical case study involving fish tuberculosis outbreak. The workshop shifts the audience from passive learners to active problem-solvers. By using Fish TB as a case study, participants are forced to synthesize clinical knowledge with environmental science and public health policy. This practical application demonstrates how core veterinary competencies align with global One Health initiatives.

This workshop explores professional identity formation (PIF) by focusing on early identity transitions, particularly the shift from applicant to preclinical veterinary student. It will draw on participant experiences to identify common pressure points and use a “what worked” approach to develop scaffolds that support PIF in the preclinical curriculum.
Veterinary curricula often frame graduation as the defining PIF milestone, overlooking the broader continuum of identity development. This workshop will expand that perspective by examining underexplored transition points that shape students’ evolving sense of professional identity. 
The shift from applicant to registered veterinary student represents a critical early-stage transition. New expectations, values and perceptions of veterinary work are encountered and pre-existing ones challenged. Are pre-clinical students identifying as an early veterinary professional or simply figuring out how they belong as a student? Later PIF transitions can be similarly turbulent, including that from clinician to educator. This shift introduces different responsibilities, expectations and position within the profession where individuals often renegotiate their sense of who they are as a veterinarian. 
By recognising these varied transition points, PIF can be understood as dynamic, contextual, and ongoing. This workshop will foster open dialogue among veterinary educators, using shared experiences to generate practical ideas for supporting early identity formation by: 
Creative expression of personal PIF transitions, constructed through dialogue with peers.
Co-constructing ideas to scaffold students’ early PIF transitions in the preclinical environment.
By broadening the understanding of PIF, the session strives to inform more inclusive and supportive educational practices across the veterinary career trajectory.

Working with generation Z is not easy. It seems that the more effort instructors invest in preparing their frontal classes, the less interested students become in the carefully designed material.
However, this generation is not less capable—just different. Their cognitive patterns have adapted to a dynamic environment shaped by social media and the internet. As a result, they struggle with the monotony of frontal teaching. This poses a challenge in veterinary education, which has traditionally relied on lectures and the transmission of large amounts of lexical knowledge.
Escape rooms offer a promising educational approach. Their logic can be applied to support students in mastering extensive theoretical material, moreover they transform a static lesson into a dynamic, interactive, engaging one, just what generation Z longs for.
Despite first impressions, escape room design is simple and does not require locked spaces or expensive equipment, just some riddles connected to the material. They can be integrated into seminars or used within a flipped classroom model to promote active engagement.
Students work in teams to solve sequential tasks, progressing only after correctly completing each step. This structured approach allows them to engage with complex material in a playful way while simultaneously developing teamwork skills.
This workshop introduces the fundamentals of educational escape room design and provides practical ideas that instructors can readily implement. These methods not only enhance students’ engagement but also promote deeper and more effective learning. On the other hand, the designing is entertaining activity for the instructor as well.

Background: The hidden curriculum encompasses the implicit values, behaviours, attitudes and cultural norms that students acquire through everyday educational experiences rather than the formally documented curriculum. It has been recognised as a powerful influence on professional identity formation, ethical decision-making and students’ perceptions of the veterinary profession [1,2]. The existing veterinary education literature has largely focused on understanding the hidden curriculum within established programmes. Little attention has been given to how the hidden curriculum develops during the creation of a new veterinary programme, where institutional culture, faculty behaviours and educational practices are still evolving. This presents a unique opportunity to intentionally design a learning culture that aligns with the programme’s educational values from its inception.

Summary of Work: This interactive workshop will invite participants to consider how a hidden curriculum emerges during the establishment and early delivery of a veterinary programme. Following a brief introduction to the concept, participants will examine veterinary education scenarios relating to student orientation, practical teaching, assessment, feedback, faculty role-modelling and responses to uncertainty. Participants will identify the implicit messages communicated within each scenario, consider their potential influence on students’ learning and professional identity, and distinguish between intended and unintended consequences. Participants will then undertake a design activity in which they define the values they would wish students to experience within a new veterinary programme and translate these values into observable faculty behaviours, educational practices and institutional processes. The workshop will conclude with participants developing one context-specific action that could be applied within their own institution.

As the first Clinical Skills Centre opened in the UK and Europe, here at the Royal Veterinary College, in the 22 years since we opened, we have added so many more aspects to our student education and support. We are now a centre for additional classes in Communication Skills, Animal Handling, Maths Tuition, Neurodiverse support, Pastoral Care, OSCE preparation and Sustainability Champions to name but a few of the roles we inhabit as a team of 5 interprofessional educators.
Are we at a time when we need to rename Clinical Skills Centres to encompass this? Student Educational Hubs? This workshop will be for all involved in Veterinary Education to detail the additional calls on their facility with the corresponding increased expectations of students and how can we meet them moving forwards. This workshop will aim to discuss how to manage the existing space, finances and time we all have available in a creative way and discuss the challenges you/we are facing and how we could meet them.

The increasing demand for visualization and pre-visualization in many professional fields has driven the popularity of 3D generated models. In veterinary practice, these models offer a more comprehensive understanding of anatomical structures for applications like surgical planning and client education. Furthermore, in veterinary education, 3D generated and manufactured models facilitate a more immersive teaching and learning experience, overcoming limitations associated with the availability of textbooks and cadavers. A key process for generating these 3D digital models is the segmentation of anatomical features from computer tomography (CT) scans. CT scan segmentation involves identifying and isolating voxels representing specific anatomical structures, such as bone, based on their unique density values. This results in a three-dimensional representation of the structure of interest, which can then undergo post-processing, analysis, and physical reproduction. This beginner-friendly hands-on workshop aims to provide a practical introduction to bony feature segmentation in CT datasets by comparing three software applications of increasing complexity. Attendees will have the opportunity to observe and replicate fundamental CT data segmentation techniques in a guided and interactive setting, followed by a discussion of post-processing considerations for various final display environments (physical or digital).

Introduction: Shared Decision-Making (SDM) is a higher-level communication process that is important to the outcome of veterinarian-client decision-making and for practicing Spectrum of Care (SOC).  The challenge of teaching SDM has been raised, and while many veterinary colleges have adopted a general skills-based approach to communication training, teaching SDM and integrating it into SOC training requires context-specific training.
Aim/ Purpose: To introduce the Value Matrix (VM), a decision-making aid developed and used in the clinical-communication curriculum at the Ontario Veterinary College, for teaching student veterinarians SDM and more recently to support training student veterinarians on practicing SOC.
Implications for Veterinary Education: In addition to supporting the teaching of SDM, the VM is also a tool that can assist student veterinarians in developing their clinical reasoning skills by providing a structured way for students to work through and organize their thoughts and clinical problem-solving in preparation for engaging a client in a SDM conversation. This interactive workshop will familiarize participants with the 3-talk model of SDM, introduce participants to the VM, provide a hands-on opportunity for participants to experience developing a VM using a case-based example and engage participants in an open discussion on where and how the VM could be integrated into teaching SDM and SOC within their own pre-clinical and/ or clinical teaching contexts.

Objective Structure Clinical Exams (OSCEs) that are reliable and robust require rigorous design and implementation which can seem like a daunting task to those new to the process. This session, led by Caz Mosley, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Skills aims to introduce and enhance the skills needed to design, implement, and evaluate OSCEs effectively.
In her role as Academic Lead for Veterinary Clinical Skills, at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Caz has directed and established OSCEs across all years of their BVM&S programme including formative peer-assessed OSCEs, summative multi-circuit stations and a full surgical procedural video ‘E-OSCE’, as well as supporting colleagues and external institutes in the design of other practical assessments (DOPS, OSPREs, WBAs).
Whether you’re planning on setting up multi-station carousel or linear OSCE circuits, utilizing multimedia for assessments, looking at options for inclusivity, or new to all of this and unsure where to start then this interactive workshop will be beneficial and informative to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to successfully implement and improve OSCEs.
Workshop Objectives:
• Understand different formats of OSCEs and their appropriate usage.
• Learn the complete cycle of an OSCE from designing to reviewing for improvements.
• Equip participants with strategies to design and implement inclusive OSCEs, promoting equitable assessment for every student
• Develop skills in piloting OSCEs, training examiners, and moderating results.
• Gain insights into digital tools like RISR to aid OSCE administration and evaluation.