How We Teach and Assess Competencies in Evidence‐Based Veterinary Medicine in Preclinical Veterinary Coursework by Integrating the Expertise of a Veterinary Pharmacologist and Information Specialists/Librarians

At the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine (TAMU-CVM), the veterinary pharmacology faculty and library faculty have collaborated to teach aspects of Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine (EBVM) since 2010. These skills are integral to drug and therapeutic decision-making and are required for veterinary graduate Day-One competency. Herein, we explain the progression of incorporation of EBVM teaching at TAMU-CVM to make clear that the development of teaching and assessment activities did not occur as a single design exercise, but rather in an iterative and reflective manner over several years. We describe the courses in which we have one or more lecture or laboratory sessions focused on scaffolding the skills of EBVM across 3 semesters, including the skills of writing clinical questions, searching the biomedical literature for evidence, critically appraising the evidence, and then applying the evidence to answer the clinical question to make a clinical recommendation. We share the specific contributions of the librarians and the pharmacologist in creating opportunities for students to develop the competencies of EBVM.