Last month I become an Ambassador for the Ask for Evidence campaign. I must have been mentioning the campaign around the office a fair bit as my colleagues suggested it would be a good idea for me to give them an Ask for Evidence talk at one of our regular meetings.
Working in the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine (CEVM) it might seem that the presentation would be preaching to the converted (the CEVM has its own online resource for veterinary surgeons to find, and ask for, the evidence behind clinical questions) however, the Ask for Evidence campaign sparked an interest because of its huge reach and relevance to so many walks of life. People have asked about the evidence for, among other things, MET police claims on cracking down on scooter racing, a mobile phone app to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and even underpants to protect against electromagnetic radiation.
All of the CEVM team are researchers with a clinical veterinary or animal science background, therefore our evidence related focus is often somewhat narrow. Armed with tea and cake I gave the team a run through of the work that Sense About Science and the Voice of Young Science Network have done as well as how people can get involved in asking for evidence. By the end of the talk, and the lively discussion that followed, there were already lots of ideas for claims we were going to ‘ask’ about. Keep your eyes peeled - the vets are getting involved!
This blog was written by Imogen Richens, Ask for Evidence Ambassador.
