Role: Practice limited to veterinary dentistry and oral surgery.
After graduating from Edinburgh University, Rachel joined small animal practice and gradually became interested in dentistry. This interest however stemmed from the realisation that she disliked dentistry due to a lack of knowledge and skills in the area. Consciously incompetent, after much CPD in the area she realised she wanted to dedicate her career to dentistry and oral surgery, and since 2010 her practice has been limited to this field. In 2012 she gained access to the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists via examination in the subject, and in 2015 became an RCVS Advanced Practitioner. She speaks nationally and internationally on the subject, has published in peer–reviewed journals and textbooks and is passionate about teaching.
“As a profession, we should all be supporting and encouraging the work of the CEVM. We must attempt to catch up with our medical and dental colleagues in terms of the use of EBM in every day practice. The CEVM is at the forefront of this drive and all practitioners and their patients will benefit from this initiative.
The CEVM has helped me to learn how to critically appraise published research and seek out the highest levels of evidence available. I am also now much happier to discredit published research if I feel it is fatally flawed, rather than accept it because it is published."
www.perrydentalvet.co.uk @perrydentalvet
Role: Practice Partner
Ross graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2001, and is a partner in The Pets’n’Vets Family group of practices situated throughout Glasgow. He has always had a particular interest in surgery and he has recently obtained the BSAVA Postgraduate Certificate in Surgery in 2014. Ross has had a number of surgical case reports published in the veterinary literature detailing the management of both soft tissue and orthopaedic conditions. He wishes to further contribute to veterinary knowledge and is excited to be involved with the Centre of Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine at Nottingham University as they strive to work in conjunction with vets “on the ground” enabling them to best utilise the knowledge available to optimise their patient and client care.
“CEVM has led the way in expanding vets’ knowledge of how to best utilise the evidence available to them to optimise the care of their patients. This has been through contributions to the veterinary literature, and via assessment of knowledge specifically relevant to general practitioners and then delivering this information in a user friendly format such as BestBETs for Vets.
As a practice we have had two PhD students visit us during the time of our association with CEVM. Through this our practices have contributed to relevant clinical research on: the complexity of general practice consultations and also the assessment of welfare in geriatric dogs, particularly applicable to arthritis. BestBETs for Vets is a resource that we have used as a practice on a number of occasions, most recently when assessing the altered risks when performing ovariohysterectomy either via the flank or midline. This resource provided us with an evidence-based solution to our discussions on which method was less likely to result in wound complications. The services our practices offer have greatly developed during the time of our association with CEVM. We feel that underpinning great customer service with sound science, has greatly contributed to The Pets’n’Vets Family flourishing over the last 5 years.”
www.petsnvets.org @petsnvets
Role: Veterinary Practice Owner & Practising Vet
Michael graduated from the RVC in 2006 and went into mixed, mainly large animal, practice with his wife, Davina. They brought the practice in 2011 when their boss retired. The majority of his time is spent working with dairy cows. Michael holds a certificate in advanced veterinary practice in cattle health and production and is recognised by the RCVS as an advanced practitioner in cattle health and production. He is studying for a diploma in bovine reproduction with Liverpool University.
“Evidence-based medicine is using the best information we have to guide our clinical decision making. It’s about being an informed clinician with a fluid viewpoint that is open to change as the evidence changes.
I use evidence-based medicine every day. Constantly I am making clinical decisions on individuals and herds, and without being up to date with the literature it is impossible to to give best practice advice and treatment. Farmers are getting better and have more knowledge – the vet, as an advisor, has to be knowledgeable and up to date. Some days are like college vivas – with farmers asking increasingly difficult and complex questions. The deeper I delve into evidence based veterinary medicine the more I realise how the literature is lacking in some very significant areas. This has driven me to do some simple in-practice research and I find it exciting that a simple practitioner can add to the evidence-base. It is both enlightening and empowering.”
www.bainbridgevets.co.uk @bovivet
Role: Small animal first opinion veterinarian
Following PhD and DVM training at Oregon State University, Connie interned in large animal medicine and surgery at University of Minnesota. After an early career in equine and mixed animal practice, she worked in referral critical care/emergency practice and currently works in busy six-doctor day practice in Portland, Oregon.
“It is brilliant to see an academic centre helping us to learn how to become more evidence-based. The ongoing effort to define priority research, document what we do in first opinion practice and help us, as busy practitioners, to access better resources for clinical decision making will have tremendous impact on the profession and the patients and owners that we serve.
We use BestBETs for Vets for quick clinical questions and look forward to even more BETs being posted since it is very difficult to always find time to look for and appraise evidence. I think the greatest thing for us is that we feel like we have institutional/professional support in trying to press on with a bit of a culture shift in how we practice and communicate honestly with our clients and our colleagues about uncertainties that we face every day.”
www.fremontvet.com
School of Veterinary Medicine and ScienceUniversity of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus Leicestershire, LE12 5RD
Tel: +44 (0) 115 951 6576 Fax: +44 (0) 115 951 6415 Email: CEVM@nottingham.ac.uk