NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination) · USA / Canada · International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA); scored by NBME, delivered by Prometric
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersClinical examination and special diagnostics, general systemic states, and the diseases of each body system, with fluid therapy and transfusion.
In the exams: NAVLE clinical practice 70%; BCSE medicine 50-55 items (its largest block); PRC Medicine 14%; Nepal NLEV 8; EGEL Plus diagnosis 17 and therapeutics 18; ICAR AICE-JRF core group 07; ICAR AIEEA-PG 13 (Medicine)
NAVLE (USA/Canada)
Case vignettes across species weighted to dogs and cats: localise a neurological lesion, read an ECG strip (hyperkalaemia in a blocked cat, AF in a horse), choose a fluid for a given acid-base state, decide medical versus surgical colic, stage MMVD, and recognise LDA, TRP and BRD in cattle.
How our questions for NAVLE spread across the units of Veterinary Clinical Medicine I: General and Systemic. Difficulty: 0 easy, 49 medium, 9 hard.
| Fluid therapy and blood transfusion | 7 | |
| Special diagnostics: urinalysis, ophthalmoscopy, endoscopy and ultrasonography | 6 | |
| Special diagnostics: ECG, paracentesis and rumen fluid analysis | 5 | |
| Diseases of the nervous system | 5 | |
| Anaemia | 4 | |
| Colic | 4 | |
| Pulmonary diseases | 4 | |
| History taking and clinical examination | 3 | |
| Cardiovascular diseases | 3 | |
| Diseases of the urinary system | 3 | |
| Diseases of the skin | 3 | |
| Septicaemia and toxaemia | 2 | |
| Shock and dehydration | 2 | |
| Traumatic reticuloperitonitis | 2 | |
| Abomasal displacement | 2 | |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system | 2 | |
| Indigestion and ruminal tympany | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A dog has PCV 30%, RBC 6.0 × 10^6/µL and haemoglobin 10 g/dL. What are the MCV and MCHC?
C. MCV 50 fL; MCHC 33.3 g/dL
MCV = PCV × 10 ÷ RBC = 30 × 10 ÷ 6 = 50 fL. MCHC = Hb ÷ PCV × 100 = 10 ÷ 30 × 100 = 33.3 g/dL. Forgetting the ×10 or ×100 factors gives the wrong options; attaching the ×10 to MCHC instead of MCV gives 5 fL and 3.3 g/dL.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
An anaemic dog has 6% reticulocytes and PCV 15%. Using a normal PCV of 45%, the corrected reticulocyte percentage is:
A. 2%
Corrected % = observed % × patient PCV ÷ normal PCV = 6 × 15 ÷ 45 = 2%. Multiplying by 45/15 gives 18%, the common inversion error; forgetting to divide by 45 gives 90%.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A horse has marked expiratory effort with a double expiratory lift and a heave line. The problem is most likely located in:
B. The lower airways
Expiratory effort indicates lower (intrathoracic) airway obstruction, as in severe equine asthma. Upper airway obstruction causes inspiratory effort and noise.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A 3-day-old colt has abdominal distension and straining. Serum creatinine is 3.0 mg/dL and peritoneal fluid creatinine 8.0 mg/dL. The ratio and interpretation are:
D. About 2.7:1; consistent with uroperitoneum
8.0 ÷ 3.0 = 2.67. A peritoneal:serum creatinine ratio ≥ 2:1 confirms urine in the abdomen, classically bladder rupture in colts.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A horse with colic yields 6 litres of net gastric reflux on nasogastric intubation. The most important immediate significance is that:
A. The stomach needed decompression and small-intestinal obstruction or enteritis is likely
Net reflux above about 2 L is significant; it indicates proximal obstruction or ileus and risk of gastric rupture. Oral fluids are contraindicated.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A 3-month-old foal on a farm with endemic pneumonia has fever and cough; ultrasound shows multiple peripheral lung abscesses. The most likely agent is:
A. Rhodococcus equi
R. equi causes pyogranulomatous pneumonia with abscesses in foals of about 1–6 months.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
An adult ewe fed silage circles to the left, has a left head tilt, a drooping left ear and lip, and food in the left cheek. The most likely diagnosis is:
B. Listeriosis
Listeria ascends the trigeminal nerve to the brainstem, causing unilateral cranial nerve deficits; poorly fermented silage is the source.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A young dog has intense pruritus of the ear margins and elbows; the owner also has itchy papules. Skin scrapings are negative. Rubbing the ear margin causes the dog to scratch. The most likely diagnosis is:
C. Sarcoptic mange
Sarcoptes often evades scrapings; the pinnal-pedal reflex, distribution and zoonotic spread support it; trial treatment is common.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A 20 kg dog has PCV 12%; target PCV 25%; donor PCV 45%; blood volume 90 mL/kg. The whole blood volume needed is about:
C. 520 mL
Volume = 20 × 90 × (25 − 12) ÷ 45 = 520 mL. Using the target PCV instead of the difference gives 1000; using a feline blood volume (60 mL/kg) gives 347; 260 halves it, applying the packed-red-cell rule of thumb (1 mL/kg per 1% rise) to whole blood.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
A type B cat needs a transfusion. Why must type A blood never be given?
B. Type B cats have strong natural anti-A antibodies that can cause a fatal reaction on first transfusion
Strong anti-A alloantibodies in type B cats cause acute haemolytic reactions; always type cats.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Ettinger & Feldman; Reed, Bayly & Sellon; DiBartola
Ten here, 58 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to NAVLE in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
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