01-03-2021
29-02-2024
Evidence-based veterinary medicine is one of the most crucial competencies for a veterinarian. However, there needs to be more reliable evidence that veterinary education in Portugal adequately equips veterinarians to collect, interpret, and assess the quality of scientific information. A possible reason why, in recent years, non-conventional therapies (NCTs), such as acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, homoeopathy, and osteopathy, have gained popularity in veterinary practice despite the scarcity of well-designed, unbiased, reliable, and appropriately interpreted studies demonstrating their effectiveness.
The EviEdVet project aims, first and foremost, to comprehensively map and critically assess how evidence-based veterinary medicine is currently taught to veterinary students and professionals in Portugal and to compare the Portuguese situation with examples from other European veterinary schools (Austria, Ireland, and Finland). We will also explore the implications of these findings for veterinary education and for continuing education for professionals, along with the social, ethical, and deontological consequences of inadequate training that fails to develop critical and scientific thinking skills.
Primarily a pedagogical research project, EviEdVet seeks to actively promote evidence-based veterinary medicine education by developing, testing, evaluating, and disseminating free educational materials. These materials will include games, presentation slides, podcasts, short videos, and a dedicated website on the subject. These educational resources will be the foundation for developing an e-learning curriculum for higher education and continuing education for veterinarians.
This three-year project brings together four researchers with backgrounds in veterinary medicine, education, and animal science: Manuel Magalhães-Sant'Ana and George Stilwell (FMV-UL), Isilda Rodrigues (UTAD, CIIE-UP), and Nuno Franco (I3S-UP). The project (Ref. PTDC/CED-EDG/0187/2020) has been awarded approximately €250,000 in funding by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). It is one of four projects funded in the field of education out of over a hundred applications.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP (FCT)
Ref.:PTDC/CED-EDG/0187/2020
Evidence-based medicine; Alternative therapies; Veterinary medicine; Distance education.
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade de Lisboa (Coord.)
Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto
CIIE/Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto