British Cattle Veterinary Association

The art and science of medicine involves accurate diagnosis of disease, appropriate recommendation for treatment, proper application of the recommended therapy, and follow-up evaluation of clinical outcome. The follow-up evaluation is important for two main reasons: 1) to confirm or deny that the therapy was correct for the given disease entity (this adds to the practitioner's database for future therapy decisions) and 2) allows the practitioner to institute an alternative therapy if clinical progress is not sufficient. These decisions presume that the treatment was given according to prescription including accurate dosage, appropriate route of administration, precise time between follow-up treatment administrations, and treatments given for the prescribed length of time, i.e., the assessment of clinical success presumes 100% compliance.