Clinical evaluation of methods of treatment.

Veterinary clinicians can make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the practical value of using alternative treatment methods by conducting clinical trials. By following a logical sequence of steps the clinician can design and participate in a clinical trial in his clinic without interfering with his normal practice. The successive stages of a field trial were presented along with an example to demonstrate the application of the principles involved. These stages are: design and planning, implementation, collection of data, and analysis of data.The veterinary clinician who initiates clinical trials to answer questions plaguing him provides two services to the veterinary profession. First, he helps answer questions facing private practitioners throughout the profession. Second, he can demonstrate that not all research must be done in a laboratory setting isolated from "real world" complications. Seeing the results that can be derived from individual practicing veterinarians participating in clinical trials should act as a stimulus to other veterinarians to logically organize the data coming from their practices.