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 papersThe non-technical skills that decide whether a veterinarian succeeds: talking to clients, consent, teamwork and leadership, the business of practice, clinical governance and looking after oneself.
In the exams: NAVLE communication 8% and professionalism, practice management and wellness 7%; RCVS Day One competences (Personal Leadership, Reflective Relationships); AVMA COE competencies
NAVLE (USA / Canada)
Communication 8% and professionalism, practice management and wellness 7% of a 360-item, all-vignette exam. Items present a client scenario and ask for the best next statement or action: gathering history, delivering bad news, euthanasia discussion, informed consent and estimates, handling an angry client, teamwork and delegation, telehealth limits, recognising burnout and responding to a colleague at risk.
How our questions for NAVLE spread across the units of Communication, Professionalism, Practice Management & Wellbeing. Difficulty: 32 easy, 46 medium, 16 hard.
| Practice business and finance | 26 | |
| Client communication | 12 | |
| Breaking bad news | 9 | |
| Informed consent | 8 | |
| Teamwork | 8 | |
| Clinical governance | 8 | |
| Wellbeing and burnout | 7 | |
| Diversity and inclusion | 6 | |
| Leadership | 5 | |
| Lifelong learning | 5 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A new graduate believes the practice's out-of-hours rota is unsafe. What is the most effective leadership action from her position?
C. Gather specific examples, propose a workable alternative and raise it through the agreed route
Leading from a junior position means raising concerns constructively with evidence and a proposal. Refusal or public complaint damages trust and rarely works, and waiting leaves an unsafe rota in place.
Further reading: Leadership and followership literature
The services marketing mix extends the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) with which three elements?
D. People, process and physical evidence
The 7Ps add people, process and physical evidence. In a practice, the receptionist, the booking process and a clean waiting room are part of what the client buys.
Further reading: Booms & Bitner services marketing mix
A clinic has fixed costs of 45,000 a month. The average consultation fee is 50 and the variable cost per consultation is 20. How many consultations a month does it need to break even?
B. 1,500
Break-even = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost) = 45,000 ÷ 30 = 1,500. Dividing by the fee alone gives 900 and ignores variable costs; dividing by the variable cost gives 2,250; adding fee and cost gives 643.
Further reading: Shilcock & Stutchfield, Veterinary Practice Management
A practice's cost of goods sold is 240,000 a year; stock was 50,000 at the start of the year and 30,000 at the end. Using average stock and a 365-day year, how many days of stock does it hold on average?
D. 61 days
Turnover = 240,000 ÷ 40,000 = 6; days on hand = 365 ÷ 6 = 60.8 ≈ 61 days. Opening stock alone gives 76 days, closing stock alone 46 days, and 6 is the turnover, not days.
Further reading: Shilcock & Stutchfield, Veterinary Practice Management
A practice uses 8 vials a day of an injectable, the supplier's lead time is 5 days, and the practice keeps a safety stock of 20 vials. At what stock level should it reorder?
A. 60 vials
Reorder point = daily usage × lead time + safety stock = 8 × 5 + 20 = 60. 40 omits the safety stock, 28 adds one day's use to the safety stock, and 160 multiplies usage by the safety stock.
Further reading: Shilcock & Stutchfield, Veterinary Practice Management
A practice had 2,000 active clients at the start of the year. At the end it had 2,100 active clients, of whom 400 were new during the year. What was its client retention rate?
A. 85%
Retained clients = 2,100 − 400 = 1,700; retention = 1,700 ÷ 2,000 = 85%. Dividing by the year-end total gives 81%; 105% is the year-end count divided by the starting count (5% net growth), which hides the loss of 300 clients; 20% is the new-client rate.
Further reading: Shilcock & Stutchfield, Veterinary Practice Management
An item sells for 100 and costs 60. The practice offers a 10% discount. By how much must sales volume rise just to keep total gross profit the same?
C. 33.3%
Gross profit per unit falls from 40 to 30, so volume must rise by 40 ÷ 30 − 1 = 33.3%. 10.0% assumes a one-for-one effect; 11.1% is 100 ÷ 90 − 1, which ignores cost; 25.0% is 10 ÷ 40, the share of old profit lost, not the volume needed.
Further reading: Shilcock & Stutchfield, Veterinary Practice Management
What are the three dimensions of burnout described by Maslach?
B. Emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment
Maslach's three dimensions are emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation (cynicism) and reduced personal accomplishment. Low mood with sleep and appetite change describes depression; fear and hypervigilance after trauma describe post-traumatic stress.
Further reading: Maslach & Leiter 2016
A vet believes a suffering dog should be euthanised, but the owner refuses and the vet cannot act. The resulting stress is best called:
C. Moral distress
Moral distress (Jameton) arises when one knows the right action but is constrained from taking it. Compassion fatigue comes from repeated exposure to suffering, and burnout from chronic unmanaged work stress.
Further reading: Jameton 1984
A farmer whose community regards cattle as sacred refuses to have a chronically lame cow culled. What is the best approach?
C. Explore the belief respectfully, explain the welfare position and seek lawful options that protect welfare
Welfare cannot be compromised, but how it is achieved can often be negotiated: treatment, palliative care or transfer to a sanctuary where these exist and the law allows. Overriding the farmer without discussion, abandoning the cow, or reporting before talking all fail one side.
Further reading: Welfare and cultural-competence literature
Ten here, 94 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.
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