Grade the quality and strength of veterinary evidence using a veterinary-specific evidence hierarchy. Textbooks carry more weight in veterinary medicine than in human medicine. Use when evaluating the reliability of clinical information.
Evaluate and grade the quality of evidence supporting veterinary clinical recommendations. The evidence hierarchy in veterinary medicine differs from human medicine in important ways. Due to the relative scarcity of large-scale RCTs, board-certified specialist textbooks carry significantly more clinical weight in veterinary practice than their equivalents do in human medicine.
In human medicine, clinical guidelines based on systematic reviews supersede textbooks. In veterinary medicine, textbooks authored by board-certified specialists remain the most comprehensive, curated synthesis of clinical knowledge for many conditions. This is because:
This does NOT mean textbooks are infallible. When high-quality RCTs or systematic reviews exist, they should take precedence.
**Recommendation:** [Clinical recommendation]
**Evidence Level:** [I-V]
**Source:** [Citation]
**Species-specific:** [Yes/No -- if No, note the source species]
**Recency:** [Publication year]
**Note:** [Any caveats about evidence quality]