AI Prompt Toolkit for Veterinary Educators
Veterinary student education has traditionally leaned on “blocked” learning—students focus on one system or specialty at a time, mastering it in isolation before moving on. It feels logical and tidy, but in real practice things rarely unfold in neat blocks. Clinical problems don’t arrive labeled “cardiology” or “neurology”—they show up mixed, layered, and complex. And clients often explain symptoms in non-linear ways.
That’s where interleaving changes the education game.
Why Interleaving Matters
Interleaving means mixing topics, problem types, and case contexts rather than teaching them in sequence. Research in the learning sciences shows that while blocked practice can support short-term performance, interleaving creates more opportunities for discrimination, comparison, and long-term retention [Rohrer, D. (2012). Interleaving helps students distinguish among similar concepts. Educational Psychology Review, 24(3), 355–367] .
Strengthens retention — by requiring learners to distinguish between similar concepts and apply them flexibly.
Improves transfer — by reinforcing knowledge across varied situations rather than within a single narrow context.
Builds problem-solving agility — exactly the skill clinicians need when approaching real cases.
In short: interleaving requires intentionality, but it makes learning stick.
What This Looks Like in Veterinary Education
Imagine a student moving from radiographs of thoracic disease, to interpreting abdominal effusion, to identifying orthopedic fractures—all in one session. The variety doesn’t confuse—it sharpens. Each comparison makes learners more adept at spotting patterns and applying reasoning across domains.
Veterinary students trained through interleaving:
Learn to compare, contrast, and choose between differential diagnoses.
Build stronger connections between systems and modalities.
Develop clinical reasoning that feels natural when faced with complex, real-world patients.
How V.E.T.S. Applies Interleaving
At V.E.T.S., interleaving isn’t an add-on—it’s built into the structure of our curriculum Packs. The Specialty Packs are scaffolded so that students revisit core concepts across different systems and case types, strengthening retention and clinical reasoning over time. Our Case-Based Learning (CBL) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Packs take this further by mixing modalities, disciplines, and case presentations—mirroring the way veterinarians encounter problems in practice.
This intentional design reflects the standards of competency-based veterinary education (CBVE) and mirrors what students will experience in practice: messy, layered, and demanding—but ultimately, the most authentic preparation for clinical readiness.
Looking Ahead
Interleaving can feel counterintuitive because it’s harder up front. But that’s the point—students who struggle productively during training emerge more confident and capable in the clinic.
Veterinary education deserves tools that reflect how veterinarians actually think and work. Interleaving is one of the most powerful ways to make that shift—and we’ve embedded it into every Pack we build at V.E.T.S.
Let’s reimagine how we prepare tomorrow’s veterinarians—together.
