Veterinary Evidence Student Award winners Q&A

In its third year, the Veterinary Evidence Student Awards continue to celebrate students’ engagement with evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) and its application into practice. The awards are run by RCVS Knowledge, and all submissions are considered for publication in their peer-reviewed, open access journal Veterinary Evidence.

This year, Alexandra Bartlett, from the Royal Veterinary College, took first prize for her Knowledge Summary exploring the evidence behind NSAIDs for postoperative pain relief in castrated calves. Erina Leask, from the University of Sydney, received second place for her paper exploring the use of EMLATM cream to reduce pain associated with venepunctures in felines. And third place went to Eleanor Best, from the University of Bristol, who explored the evidence behind meloxicam dosage and administration for postoperative analgesia in rabbits.

Here they share their thoughts on the writing process, getting published, and ultimately adding to the evidence base, which they would encourage everyone in veterinary education and the professions to do.

What drew you to apply to the Veterinary Evidence Student Awards?

Alexandra: During my intercalated year I became very interested in research, and the opportunity to be published even if I didn’t win any of the prizes was very appealing to me. I also really liked the idea of being able to add to the evidence base and potentially help improve the standard of care for our patients.

Erina: I had planned from the beginning to pursue publication with Veterinary Evidence, and the competition entry dates just happened to line up perfectly with my timeline. My primary aim, though, was just to achieve publication – this outcome caught me quite by surprise!

Eleanor: Over the lockdown period, I really wanted to try to gain some more research experience and contribute to the knowledge base in some way. I remembered having a go at writing a Knowledge Summary in my fourth year at university, and so thought that this would be a great way to do both.

Interestingly, all three Knowledge Summaries focused on pain relief and animal welfare. What made you want to appraise the evidence around your chosen topic?

Alexandra: I have always had a strong interest in farm practice and specifically the unique position of veterinary professionals to help improve farm animal welfare. Castration is an incredibly common procedure on farms, and I was aware that many calves are castrated without pain relief. Local anaesthesia is not always practical for farmers to use so I wanted to see if there was any evidence that non-steroidal anti-inflammatories alone could reduce pain and therefore improve welfare, as they can be given at the time of castration so may be easier to use.

Erina: I am extremely passionate about feline welfare in veterinary settings. I’m sure we can all appreciate that distressed cats have the potential to become extremely difficult patients very rapidly. Yet, these cats deserve veterinary care no less than other patients, and we owe it to them, as veterinary professionals, to play our part in mitigating the development of fear and aggression.

It surprised me to find that while many clinicians had heard of EMLATM cream, or even used it themselves, very few of them chose to use EMLATM prophylactically. My goal for analysing and presenting the evidence around the efficacy of EMLATM cream was to hopefully encourage more veterinarians to make EMLATM cream part of their normal hospital protocol, particularly for non-emergency in-patients.

Eleanor: I have always been interested in exotic animal welfare, as I noticed on EMS that there were many ways that practices managed pain relief in small mammals. Rabbits are very difficult to pain score, so I thought it would be interesting to look into how we can best manage their postoperative pain in practice. I hope that this paper will offer more insight into how we can manage pain relief in rabbits in general practice, as well as providing a good basis on which to undertake future research into this topic.

What was the writing and publication process like?

Alexandra: There were a lot of different findings to unpick and try and draw together to form a conclusion, and I found that process very rewarding – it’s exciting to know that other veterinary professionals might use my work to inform their future practice.

The most challenging part of the process was probably trying to figure out the best way to fairly compare the studies I appraised, as pain is very subjective, and each study investigated different indicators of pain across different time scales.

Erina: This was my first attempt at publication, so the entire peer-reviewing process was brand new territory for me. I enjoyed the review process the most. It was so encouraging to get feedback from such highly regarded peers, and it allowed me to read my own work with fresh eyes again.

Eleanor: I did not expect to find such little evidence on the use of twice-daily meloxicam for postoperative pain relief in rabbits.

The most challenging part of the process was sorting through all the available literature and deciding which papers to exclude and include. I found that by setting myself very specific exclusion criteria, I was able to manage this much better, but I did still find the volume of available literature a little overwhelming!

I think Knowledge Summaries are a great way of bringing research into clinical practice and helping people become more aware of the gaps in the knowledge base that need to be filled to deliver optimum care to our animals.

Was writing for a journal as you anticipated?

Alexandra: This was my first time writing for a journal and it was easier than I anticipated! There were lots of resources to help me understand the process of evidence-based veterinary medicine and how to critically appraise studies, which was helpful as that wasn’t something I had covered in much detail in my university course at that point. The editorial and library teams were also supportive and answered my (many!) questions very quickly.

Erina: Overall, the experience was more straightforward than I had anticipated. The templates offered by Veterinary Evidence provided very clear instructions and examples, as well as a neat and tidy structure for my writing.

Eleanor: I really enjoyed the experience and learnt a great deal about how to format and set out a paper. The whole submission process was very easy and there was always someone to ask for help if I needed it!

What will you take away from the process?

Alexandra: I learnt a lot about the process of EBVM. We’ve since had an EBVM lecture series as part of my course and having already written my article for Veterinary Evidence, I felt like I had a much more solid grasp of the basic principles and how to carry out a literature search and appraise evidence, which made those lectures easier to follow. I think that EBVM is such an important skill for veterinary professionals to have, so I’m glad I could start practising this skill early in my career.

It was also a great opportunity to give something back to the profession by adding to the evidence base, which I think is very important in continuing to maintain high standards of care.

Erina: My greatest gain from the experience was the time spent honing and challenging my critical analysis skills. Learning how to better find and critically appraise original research will be an extremely valuable tool in practice, one that I hope will allow me to make better clinical decisions for my patients based on the best evidence available. In addition, the process has given me a profound appreciation for Knowledge Summaries, which bring all the evidence into one location and do a lot of the hard work for you.

Eleanor:

I found the process to be really valuable, especially as a veterinary student. I now feel much more comfortable navigating my way around literature databases and deciding which articles to trust!

What would you tell other people who are interested in writing a Knowledge Summary/taking part in the competition next year?

Alexandra: I’d tell anybody who’s interested to write a Knowledge Summary or take part in the competition! It’s such a valuable learning experience and a great opportunity to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, especially as a student.

Erina: Not only is the experience so valuable for your own personal growth, but you get to

contribute to the evidence base at the same time. It is daunting, and a lot of work, but you

can approach it at your own pace. In addition, the Veterinary Evidence team are extremely

helpful and have lots of resources for guiding you through each step of the process. They even

have a list of clinical questions that real clinicians would like answers to, if you’re not sure

where to start.

Eleanor: It is such a great opportunity to get involved in research and potentially get your paper published as an undergraduate. Knowledge Summaries are really helpful for clinicians, and they are also a good way of exploring a topic that you are interested in in more detail. I would really encourage other students to get involved.

The 2022 competition

Enhance your academic and research skills by writing a Knowledge Summary and submitting it to Veterinary Evidence, the open-access, peer-reviewed journal of RCVS Knowledge, the charity partner of the RCVS. Also, be in with a chance to win one of three cash prizes. The 2022 competition is now open, and the deadline is 14th January 2022.

https://knowledge.rcvs.org.uk/grants/available-grants/veterinary-evidence-student-awards/

AVS23 November 2021Comment