Students from UK and Oz shine in awards

Vet students from the UK and Australia have been named as winners in an annual awards scheme that rewards engagement and application of evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM).

RCVS Knowledge has announced the winners of the 2021 Veterinary Evidence Student awards, which are managed by the charity’s open-access peer-review Veterinary Evidence journal.

The awards scheme allows students to enhance their academic and research skills by writing a knowledge summary and submitting it, with the chance of being published in an academic journal before they graduate.

NSAID summary

Alexandra Bartlett, of the RVC, wrote the winning summary about the use of NSAIDs to reduce signs of postoperative pain in calves undergoing castration.

She critically appraised 20 controlled trials and concluded moderate evidence existed to show NSAID administration pre, during or post-castration reduced signs of post pain in calves castrated without anaesthesia.

The research has the potential to improve calf welfare. She said: “I first became interested in research during my intercalated year, which was unfortunately affected by the pandemic, so my final project was cut short and the summer studentship I had hoped to carry out was unable to go ahead.

“I was worried that I’d missed out on opportunities to get involved with research during the rest of my time at vet school, so when I found out about the Veterinary Evidence Student Awards, I was really keen to get involved.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the competition and have really enjoyed the opportunity to further my scientific writing and EBVM skills. I would definitely recommend the experience to anybody interested in entering.”

Second and third

Erina Leask from The University of Sydney School of Veterinary Science was second with a summary on the efficacy of EMLA cream for reducing pain associated with venepuncture in feline patients.

She said: “This experience has allowed me to hone my critical analysis skills, which I believe will be invaluable as I attempt to practise evidence-based medicine in my own career. Furthermore, publishing an article has been a huge achievement for me and has been incredibly rewarding in its own right.”

Third place went to Eleanor Best, from the University of Bristol Veterinary School, whose summary was “In reducing surgical recovery time in rabbits, should doses exceeding 0.2mg/kg of oral meloxicam be given and is twice-daily administration more effective than a single daily dose?”.

‘High calibre’

Kit Sturgess, editor-in-chief of Veterinary Evidence, said: “The engagement of the students, quality and number of submissions was fantastic, and I am enormously encouraged by such a positive endorsement from the vets of the future about the importance and value of EBVM, and their desire already to contribute knowledge to the profession.”

Chris Gush, RCVS Knowledge’s executive director, said: “With the Veterinary Evidence Student Awards now in their third year, I am really delighted to see the high calibre of applications from veterinary students around the world.

“We are also pleased to see that our free evidence-based resources and research are being utilised by an increasing number of students, as well as qualified professionals. All of the winning applications were high quality and well researched, and I wish all of the winners fulfilling careers ahead.”

The winning summary is online and entries are open for the 2022 awards.