The Global Resource for Online Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Learning

Abstract

To help make EBVM accessible to the veterinary profession worldwide, we assembled an extensive international team (the EBVM Learning Consortium) with a collective passion for delivering high-quality teaching of EBVM and developed an open access, online resource: ebvmlearning.org. This coherent web tutorial was designed to introduce learners to the key concepts of EBVM and was launched at the RCVS Knowledge EBVM Skills Day on October 30, 2015.

The resource, funded by the RCVS Knowledge Target Grants initiative, begins with an introductory module - the ABCs of EBVM - and is then organised into modules addressing the five key areas of EBVM:

1) Ask - how to formulate answerable questions

2) Acquire - how to obtain relevant information

3) Appraise - how to evaluate the available evidence

4) Apply - how to apply the evidence to clinical practice

5) Assess - how to measure the effect of any implemented changes

The tool has been created by marrying engaging content with accessible and usable technical design in order to encourage and facilitate re-use in a wide variety of familiar and unexpected settings as well as a number of platforms and devices. The resource will be appropriate for students and practitioners for self-study, and is also envisaged to be used in whole or in part as standalone teaching modules to support other EBVM teaching. The resource utilises best pedagogical approaches, and includes formative multiple choice questions, short tasks and recommendations for further study. It is intended to be a base of knowledge bringing together the basics of EBVM into one place, and highlights numerous other links to resources and organisations that are available to further learners’ knowledge about the subject. Development of the resource followed an iterative cycle which included review by both the core team as well as other identified stakeholders (e.g. students, practitioners, industry representatives).

It is hoped that the development of this resource will increase awareness of EBVM in the veterinary profession and allow practitioners the opportunity to develop the skills needed to utilise EBVM in everyday clinical practice. Future aims of the project team include designing methods of cataloguing and disseminating evidence syntheses to support clinical decision-making and evidence-based veterinary practice, improving and standardising the teaching of EBVM to undergraduate and postgraduate students at veterinary schools internationally, and building a community of practice in this area.