Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine
Joining the past with the future to improve the present.
“ The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Trust has recently changed its entire focus…[to] the development and promotion of evidence-based medicine. This could mark a branch in the evolution of, or a revolution in, our profession”
(Barrett, 2013)
What is Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine (EBVM)?
The term “evidence-based medicine” didn’t surfaced until the early 1990s and and then began being “adapted to meet the unique and varied needs of veterinary practitioners” and EBVM’s functions to “facilitate the production of relevant, high-quality scientific research, the effective dissemination of this research in a useful form and the integration of this information with clinical experience, client goals and values and the unique circumstances of each individual patient in order to inform decision-making and optimise patient care” (McKenzie, 2014).
Traditionally, veterinarian practitioners operated on “opinion-based medicine” where knowledge is drawn from mentors and other professional with experience, and research is viewed after being “filtered through the opinions of experts relied on by practitioners to interpret the scientific literature” (2014).
EBVM bridges this gap between practitioners past experiences and the developing research that will change the future. They do so by taking this research and “synthesising this information in useful forms such as systemic reviews and clinical practice guidelines” (2014). Research data allows veterinarians to “maintain and develop the knowledge and skills relevant to their professional practice” (RCVS, 2019).
Loretta (the dog pictured above & to the left) came in to the animal shelter after being hit by a car which damaged her back right leg. The severity of her injury required the amputation of that leg. She recovered quickly with no complications.
The quality of treatment and subsequent excellent recovery Loretta received was only possible because her team combined developed research/data on this type of surgery with their past experiences in their field.
In EBVM, “the practitioner is always the one to determine the information needed to help a particular patient…however, ready access to relevant, high-quality scientific research supports the clinician in making the most effective diagnostic and therapeutic plan” (2014).
Evidence-based veterinarian medicine illustrates the importance that human subjectivity plays in science. Fallible as we are, only we know the direction science must evolve to provide solutions to our problems. Our subjectivity determines what data is collected, which is more useful than collecting every scrap of data; the EBVM promotes a “Just in Time” approach where practitioners choose the data relevant to their needs, instead of a “Just in Case” approach where practitioners try to absorb all the research data available.
An issue that comes up in discussion of research data is about its reliability. A major tool to determine whether the data being obtained and delivered is accurate is through replicability. “Evidence-based medicine allows veterinarians to practice high quality medicine, because the basis for all decision making is quantitative, objective, and reproducible” (Mitchell & Perry, 2017). Research data can be more widely accepted and used if we see similar results across several independent studies on the same topic. EBVM also encourages “open access publishing models” (2014), where research literature is available to practitioners at no cost opposed to traditional subscription requirements. This will create a wider review board so to speak where potential errors or misinformation can be quickly identified and corrected, while allowing veterinarians to utilize the most cutting-edge advancements in their field to improve the care they provide to their clientele.
As veterinary medicine undergoes this revolution and directs its focus on the evidence behind its practices, will the field retain its valuable input from experienced members and the reliability of the tried & true practices while implementing new techniques and theories? How do veterinarians integrate new research into their clients care plans whose caregivers may prefer to stick with the traditional way of doing things?
Source: D. Barrett. (2013). Challenges of evidence-based veterinary medicine Editorial. Livestock Sept./Oct. Vol 18 No 5.
