September 22, 2016, by Emma Rayner

Expertise and research excellence scoops two awards for Vet School

Academics at the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science have been recognised for their expertise and the impact of their research by two awards from a leading industry journal.

Veterinary Record is a peer-reviewed journal for veterinary practitioners and researchers and is the journal of the British Veterinary Association.

It has awarded this year’s Veterinary Record Impact Award to Dr Simon Archer and Reuben Newsome and colleagues, with collaborators at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), for their research paper investigating foot over trimming in dairy cows.

The paper, which has been downloaded almost 1,500 times online and has been accessed by vets around the world, including the UK, USA and New Zealand, calculated the minimum claw lengths for routine foot trimming.

They found that for 96 per cent of the cows they studied, a minimum claw length of 90mm was recommended. For the last 30 years the minimum recommended claw length for trimming has been 75mm, but for the cows studied that would have meant 55 per cent would have been over trimmed.

Over trimming causes pain to the animal as well as making them susceptible to claw horn lesions. They propose that the minimum recommended claw length for any adult Hostein-Fresian dairy cow should be increased to at least 90mm.

Reviewers praised the paper for its practical impact and its ‘far reaching implications for welfare and production’ while an accompanying editorial in Veterinary Record noted that the findings from the research could enable farmers, vets and professional claw trimmers to manage and prevent lameness in dairy cows caused by over trimming.

Nottingham’s Vet School is also the very first recipient of a brand new award from the journal. The Veterinary Record Evidence Award aims to recognise contributions to the development of evidence-based veterinary medicine or its application in practice and has been awarded to the school’s Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine.

The journal noted that it had received a number of nominations for the CEVM, indicating that the centre is building a strong network beyond the bounds of its university setting.

In particular, it highlighted the continuing professional development offered by the centre to practitioners and the resources offered by the centre including databases of veterinary systematic reviews, VetSRev, and the BestBets for Vets which appraise the latest available evidence and are published online and within the clinical decision-making secton of Veterinary Record.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn