Evidence based veterinary practice, understand the science that little bit more

Evidence based veterinary practice is really important and a subject I hold close to my heart. Hopefully, this can help you understand it all that little bit more.

Please don’t listen to this video with the kids in the room.

It’s really important we know to use things that have evidence to back them up when choosing the best path of treatment for our loved ones. It can also be a real minefield trying to sift through the tones of information that is out there. How do we know what information is right or wrong?

In all honesty, it’s really hard. So no one would expect you to know. And even the experts don’t agree on everything. And finally, when we do get the highest level of evidence, a metanaylsis. We are often given the cavite at the end “more studies needed”.

I listened to Brennan as he delivered a lecture  for the CAM symposium (see thier website as you can still buy recordings for the lectures).  He was brilliant.  I could listen to him all day.

He raised a really amazing point in a way I’d never heard before so I wanted to share it.

He asks before opting for a new treatment, “could it work, might it work, does it work?”. This helps him filter things out.

The could it work was the bit that stood out to me the most. He used this analogy. You can Google “how much does the toothfairy pay per tooth?” This sounds like a plausible study title. When you Google this, you get a lot of hits! But we all know the toothfairy doesn’t actually exist.

This was an extreme example but a good one!

Make sure you listen to the professionals you have enlisted to help with your care plan, but do remember, it’s OK to ask lots of questions and it’s really good to ask lots of questions too!