The relationship between pet owners and veterinary professionals has been significantly damaged in recent years, leading to reduced owner compliance, CMA investigations, and an overall lack of communication. It is common to see comments circulating social media, such as “all my vet did was sell me expensive pills and charge me £X for 10 minutes!”, demonstrating a true lack of understanding of the expert services being delivered within the consultation, and highlighting a desperate need for improved client education to begin to rebuild trust. Pet owner education forms an integral part of veterinary treatment. As veterinary professionals, we are often tasked with cramming years' worth of in-depth medical knowledge and experience into a slice of a 10-minute consultation, and yet, this information must be thorough yet concise, technical but easy to understand, up-to-date, and evidence-based.

A New Era of Pet Owner Education: Enhancing Consultations with 3D Anatomy Models

What is Cetra and how can it enhance patient care?

At Cetra our mission is to provide accessible and interactive learning tools which can be used to enhance your consultation, improving patient outcomes through increasing owner understanding and satisfaction. Providing high-quality client education tools at your fingertips, Cetra resources are:

✅ Evidence-based
✅ Written by veterinary professionals
✅ Peer-reviewed
✅ Written in plain, easy to understand language
✅ Informative but concise
✅ Shareable via WhatsApp, text or email
✅ Able to be personalised with your practice branding

We have teamed up with GAIA Biomodels to deliver high-quality, anatomically precise 3D anatomical models, integrated into Cetra’s software to enhance your consultation and improve client understanding of their pet’s condition visually.

Why 3D models are effective for pet owner education

An in-depth understanding of anatomy and physiology underpins everything we do in veterinary medicine. As a veterinary professional, you have had to undertake an incredible amount of work, over many years, to get to grips with the anatomy of a variety of species, continuously learning throughout your career – your client has just 15 minutes to begin to understand the anatomy relating to their pet’s condition.

The need for improved resources

Up to 80% of medical information given during a consultation will immediately be forgotten by the client. This may increase during emotive situations or for those clients with a poorer medical understanding. Following the consultation, a concerned client will often turn to unreliable sources for further information to better understand the nature of the condition, such as the internet, their pet’s breeder, or family and friends. This leads to a high risk of misinformation, reduced satisfaction, and the potential for poor compliance.

How 3D models can enhance the client’s experience

Many of us respond positively to visual aids when learning, with up to 65% of people being primarily visual learners. The use of 3D models during the consultation can be an invaluable tool to help engage pet owners and incite interest in a topic that may have otherwise overwhelmed them, particularly when the diagnosis has come as a shock. The 3D models can be manipulated and viewed at a variety of angles, allowing the user to build a better mental picture of the anatomy and how it may relate to their pet’s condition, solidifying their understanding and memory of the consultation. The owner's improved understanding of a condition can greatly improve homecare and patient outcomes, as well as incite a deeper appreciation of your service. A client who has fully engaged in the consultation, with more meaningful interactions and better discussion, will have a greater sense of satisfaction and an improved perception of value for their money.

Why we teamed up with GAIA Biomodels

We are collaborating with the pioneering team at GAIA Biomodels to integrate 3D anatomy into the Cetra platform. GAIA’s models are created from high-resolution CT scans to create anatomically precise forms, providing a true-to-life representation of veterinary conditions. Their expertise lies in crafting realistic anatomical models that mirror the complexities of various pathologies, enhancing client understanding of conditions and treatments. The added benefit of models originating from CT scans is their ability to show varying pathologies and surgical interventions, which can help to explain changes and treatment options to the client in a visual, more digestible way, where traditional methods such as radiographs or sketches may not be clear.

Deciding on referral for a surgical procedure can be daunting for a pet owner, who may not have a firm grasp of the referral process or the proposed surgery. GAIA’s database of surgical models can be used to show the client what changes will be made and help to describe the overall process, with the potential to reduce client anxiety and inform their decision to refer when given treatment options.

References

Canright, A. Bescoby, S. and Dickson, J. 2023. Evaluation of a 3D Computer Model of the Equine Paranasal Sinuses as a Tool for Veterinary Anatomy Education. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. 50 (2), pp. 234-242.

Chen, S. Zhu, J. Cheng, C. Pan, Z. Liu, L. Du, J. Shen, X. Shen, Z. Zhu, H. Liu, J. Yang, H. Ma, C. and Pan, H. 2020. Can virtual reality improve traditional anatomy education programmes? A mixed-methods study on the use of a 3D skull model. BMC Medical Education. 20 (395).

Gaia Biomodels. 2024. Available from: https://www.gaiabiomodels.com/ [Accessed 10 October 2024].