EPA 10: Epidemiological investigation
Learn how to investigate animal disease outbreaks. Build your skills in data gathering, biosecurity, and outbreak prevention across species and settings.
EPA 11: Animal welfare assessment and advice
Assessing animal welfare is the cornerstone of veterinary practice. Evaluate an animal’s physical condition, behaviour, and environment to form balanced welfare judgements.
Description
To effectively assess an animal’s welfare, you need to be able to evaluate multiple factors affecting its well-being. You'll examine clinical signs, including the animal’s physical health, behaviour, psychological state and social and environmental conditions. Assessment of animal welfare is fundamental to veterinary medicine and requires knowledge of animal behaviour and good observational skills. This activity requires assessment against the five freedoms as well as the key welfare indicators above, with an understanding of the legislation governing animal welfare.
Success criteria
You will have demonstrated effective welfare assessments and provided appropriate advice on improving welfare conditions for individual animals and groups of animals, including different:
- Animal species
- Environmental conditions
- Clinical presentations
- Degrees of animal and/or client support and co-operation
You will have also recognised when euthanasia is appropriate.
Required competencies
This EPA aligns with the following RCVS Day One Competences:
Veterinary capability
- Clinical reasoning
- Individual animal
- Animal population care and management
- One health/public health
Reflective relationships
- Communication
- Collaboration
Personal leadership
- Adaptability
- Professionalism