A new article published in Veterinary Evidence looks at the progression of evidence based veterinary medicine (EBVM) and suggests how it may be improved in the future.

'Evidence-based veterinary medicine at 20 – a commentary on historical, philosophical, practical, and ethical aspects' by David Mills MRCVS, Michael J. Reiss and Madeleine Campbell FRCVS, looks at the history of both evidence-based medicine and EBVM, the moral and ethical arguments for EBVM and the practical barriers.

It concludes that EBVM would be improved by:

  • making research more applicable to first opinion patients
  • making the process of clinical decision making more of a research focus
  • investigating how evidence and owner and patient circumstances can be integrated into a clinical decision
  • investigating how sufficient weight can be attached to evidence and stakeholders in clinical decision making
  • better individualisation of veterinary care
  • moving from evidence-based to evidence-informed
  • re-appraising the epistemiological value of professional experience

Author David Mills MRCVS said: “EBVM has extensively infiltrated the veterinary discourse in the last 20 years and whilst it seems a sensible way of doing medicine, this doesn't always translate into practical improvements.

"Of course we need to base decisions on evidence, and the more reliable that evidence the better the decisions are likely to be.

"But is EBVM the best way?

"Does it serve the individual when the evidence doesn't relate to them or the specifics of their disease?

"Does EBVM help or hinder us in realising welfare improvements for the individual animal?

"In this review of the EBVM movement we examine aspects of the methodology and its practical application and in several areas find it wanting.

"Some of these are practical issues - for example underpowered studies, poor evidence - whilst others are fundamental to the philosophy and practice of EBVM itself such as what is evidence, how it translates to individuals and how we cannot predict the future.

"Evidence-based medicine was forged in the fires of not just accepting eminent pronouncements - in this paper we apply this principle to EBVM itself."

https://veterinaryevidence.org/index.php/ve/article/view/710 

Reference

  1. Mills, D., Reiss, M., & Campbell, M. (2025). Evidence-based veterinary medicine at 20 – a commentary on historical, philosophical, practical and ethical aspects. Veterinary Evidence, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v10i3.710 

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