What is Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine (EBVM)?
The Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association, describes EBVM as, "the formal strategy to integrate the best research evidence available combined with clinical expertise as well as the unique needs or wishes of each client in clinical practice." ("What is EBVM?", EBVMA, 2024) While using the best evidence available might seem obvious, EBVM is about having ways to easier find, navigate, and analyze the information out there.
Five Steps of EBVM
The five steps of EBVM is the same five steps in evidence-based human medicine:
Ask – defining an answerable clinical question that is of interest
Acquire – finding out if evidence exists to answer the question and acquiring that evidence
Appraise – assessing the quality of the relevant evidence found
Apply – implementing the evidence into clinical practice where appropriate
Assess – evaluating the impact of the implementation and changes in clinical practice. (ABCs of EBVM, RCVS, n.d.)
Learn about EBVM
EBVM ToolKit - Resources on the five steps of EBVM
ABCs of EBVM - An open educational textbook introducing EBVM
Evidence-based resources
Best BETs for Vets - Simple reviews of the literature for common and specific clinical questions
Knowledge Summaries - reviews of the evidence available on specific clinical questions
Five steps to writing a knowledge summary - consider completing a knowledge summary on one of the unanswered clinical questions
VetSRev - a database of veterinary systematic review citations