Australasian Veterinary Examination (AVE), formerly the National Veterinary Examination (NVE)
Australia / New Zealand · Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) · licensing
2084practice questions written to this syllabus
61subjects
Format
Step 2, preliminary MCQ exam: computer-adaptive, Rasch-scored, cut-score 500. Paper 1 (base knowledge) 80 Q in 120 min; Paper 2 (clinical reasoning) 80 Q in 150 min. Held once a year in April (next: 16 Apr 2027). Step 3, clinical exam: 5 days at the University of Queensland, usually November.
Sections
Paper 1 minimum per topic: Anatomy 2, Physiology 5, Husbandry/Welfare 5, Pathology & Clinical Pathology 8, Infectious Diseases 7, Toxicology 3, Pharmacology 5, Public Health 5, Professional Practice 2, Surgery/Anaesthesia/Imaging 8
Paper 2 minimum per species: Equine 7, Cats 6, Dogs 14, Cattle 13, Other ruminants 5, Pigs & Poultry 3, Pocket pets/Birds 1, Other 1
Clinical exam: 3 orals (Small Animal, Production Animal, Preventive Medicine) and 6 practicals (Equine, Cattle & Sheep, Anaesthesia OSCE, Surgery OSCE with a 70-minute canine OHE on a model, Pathology, Cat/Dog handling)
Over the years
For overseas graduates. The timing of the name change from NVE is unverified. After 3 MCQ fails there is a 2-year wait; Step 3 must be completed within 5 years. English: OET B/350 per sub-test, or IELTS, TOEFL or PTE.
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. In which species is the orbit completely enclosed by a bony bar?
Dog
Horse
Cat
Pig
Answer and working
B. Horse
The horse and ruminants have a complete bony orbital rim formed by the zygomatic process of the frontal bone meeting the zygomatic arch. In the dog, cat and pig the rim is incomplete and closed by the orbital ligament.
Veterinary Gross Anatomy · Comparative osteology
2. A puppy with severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea dies. Histology of the small intestine shows necrosis of crypt epithelium with collapse and loss of villi. Which virus best fits this pattern?
Canine distemper virus with pure respiratory disease
Canine parvovirus
Canine coronavirus
Rotavirus
Answer and working
B. Canine parvovirus
Parvoviruses replicate only in dividing cells and so destroy the crypt epithelium that renews the villi, giving crypt necrosis followed by villus collapse. Rotaviruses and enteric coronaviruses infect mature enterocytes at the villus tips, causing villus atrophy with preserved, often hyperplastic, crypts.
3. A male cat with urethral obstruction has a plasma potassium well above the reference interval. What happens to the resting membrane potential of its cardiac muscle cells?
It reverses to a positive value at rest
It becomes more negative (hyperpolarised)
It does not change, because potassium is mainly intracellular
It becomes less negative (depolarised)
Answer and working
D. It becomes less negative (depolarised)
Resting potential lies near the potassium equilibrium potential. Raising outside potassium reduces the out/in gradient, so the potential moves towards zero. Early this raises excitability; later it inactivates sodium channels and slows conduction, giving bradycardia and ECG changes. Hyperpolarisation is what low potassium does.
Veterinary Physiology I: Body Fluids, Blood, Circulation, Respiration and Excretion · Cellular basis of physiology
4. A young adult German Shepherd dog has a ravenous appetite, weight loss and large volumes of pale, fatty faeces. Serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity is very low. Which physiological loss best explains the signs?
Loss of gastric parietal cell acid and intrinsic factor secretion (atrophic gastritis)
Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
Loss of ileal bile acid reabsorption
Loss of colonic water absorption
Answer and working
B. Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
Acinar atrophy removes lipase, proteases and amylase, so fat and protein are maldigested and the dog is hungry and thin. Low trypsin-like immunoreactivity reflects reduced acinar mass. Loss of gastric acid alone does not cause steatorrhoea of this degree, and colonic disease causes diarrhoea without maldigestion.
Veterinary Physiology II: Digestion, Muscle, Nerve, Endocrinology, Reproduction, Lactation, Growth and Climate · Digestion in monogastric animals
5. A dog's arterial blood has bicarbonate 24 mmol/L and pCO2 40 mmHg. Using pH = 6.1 + log10(HCO3- / (0.03 x pCO2)), what is the pH?
7.10
7.40
6.10
7.70
Answer and working
B. 7.40
0.03 x 40 = 1.2 mmol/L dissolved CO2; 24/1.2 = 20; log10(20) = 1.30; pH = 6.1 + 1.30 = 7.40. 7.10 would come from a ratio of 10; 6.10 ignores the ratio; 7.70 would need a ratio of 40.
Veterinary Biochemistry · Biomolecules and their interactions
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