At the University of Liege, the medical library recently merged with several entities including the libraries of Zoology, Botany, Psychology and Veterinary Medicine. Everywhere, the librarians are involved in teaching activities and users training programs are rather well developped in every field. But the comparison of the curriculum contents points to a few amazing differences. The most surprising one is the approach of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). The concept is well introduced in the medical community and it is a legal obligation for the medical students to be thaught in and to practice EBM. Surprisingly, the veterinarians don't seem very interested. Besides its impact on clinical practice, EBM is a good opportunity to create new habits that are valuable for continuing education and to develop critical appraisal skills.
Thus, we wish to analyze the reasons that might explain why EBM seems to be left aside at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Two approaches are envisionned. First, we plan to ask the Faculty itself about its position regarding the concept. Surveys and interviews will be conducted, distinguishing between the general practitionners, the researchers and the teaching staff.
On the other hand, an in depth analysis will be conducted regarding the media available at the veterinary library. Are they suited to the practice of EBM? If not, which additional tools should be purchased ?
At the end of the process, we expect to be able to adapt the content of the training sessions we offer to library users and possibly to improve the collaboration with the veterinary teaching staff. |