New training course on EBVM for practitioners is released
1 March 2022
RCVS Knowledge’s new training course, EBVM for Practitioners, is now available to access, completely free of charge, and specifically aimed at practising veterinary professionals wishing to keep up-to-date with current evidence-based veterinary medicine and use them in their daily practice.
Written by an international team of practising veterinary professionals and academics, the course has been carefully designed to fit around busy schedules, for veterinary professionals to maximise their learning when works best for them. It is also an excellent reference resource, ideal for dipping into and address specific information needs. It doesn’t need to be completed in a linear fashion.
The course provides a practical understanding of the step-by-step process involved, sometimes called the five As: Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply and Assess, and provides a framework to write answerable clinical questions, employ logical search strategies to find relevant research, evaluate the papers found, and then apply the findings in clinical practice.
Leanne Reid, a senior registered veterinary nurse who worked with the team testing the course, says: “This is excellent CPD and a good refresher on using EBVM in practice. The depth of information is fantastic and the links to further learning and examples were brilliant. The detailed steps on how to use EBVM is great for veterinary practices. I absolutely recommend this course to other veterinary professionals.”
Laura Haddock, Research Associate at the University of Bristol and lead author of EBVM for Practitioners, says: “The course has been carefully developed to factor in the needs of busy veterinary professionals. Before designing it, we held focus groups with vets and nurses working in general practice. They identified some of the main challenges they faced when engaging with EBVM, the most prominent being a lack of time, access to evidence, and confidence in appraisal. We hope the new short course will provide a practical and efficient way for practitioners to further develop their skills and confidence to incorporate more EBVM into their daily clinical practice.
Chris Gush, Executive Director of RCVS Knowledge, says: “Evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) is key to the delivery of modern veterinary medicine. At RCVS Knowledge, we believe evidence-based veterinary medicine reinforces the sound scientific principles of the profession and strengthens the commitment to put animal health and welfare at the forefront of all we do.
“This new course aimed at practitioners is intended as a practical, user-friendly tool to enable busy professionals to adopt a proven methodology that will, in the long run, improve outcomes for patients.”
The course is entirely free to access through RCVS Knowledge’s Learn platform, through a login. Once created, the login allows access to all other RCVS Knowledge courses as well, covering a plethora of different topics relevant to current veterinary and veterinary nursing practice.
EBVM is a proven methodology that will help you enhance your clinical practice and ultimately improve the care you provide to your patients, bearing in mind the circumstances of each patient and the values and circumstances of each owner/carer.
Visit the RCVS Knowledge platform now to access EBVM for Practitioners.