SAVC Registration Examination Veterinary Clinical Practice (Veterinary Clinical Complex): practice questions

1 · Case handling in the Veterinary Clinical Complex · medium

A buffalo is found dead overnight with dark, unclotted blood oozing from the nostrils and anus. The owner asks for a post-mortem at the clinical complex. What is the correct first step?

1. Collect a peripheral blood smear and stain it for anthrax before any carcass is opened
2. Open the carcass at once in the post-mortem hall to look for haemorrhagic enteritis
3. Send the whole carcass by public transport to the nearest diagnostic laboratory
4. Release the carcass for burial on the farm because sudden death needs no work-up

2 · Case handling in the Veterinary Clinical Complex · hard

A 40 kg diarrhoeic calf has a base deficit of 15 mmol/L. Using a bicarbonate space factor of 0.6, how much sodium bicarbonate (84 mg per mmol) is needed to correct it?

1. 30.2 g
2. 50.4 g
3. 360 g
4. 15.1 g

3 · History taking · medium

Why should the clinician ask, near the end of the history, 'Is there anything else you are worried about?'

1. It signals to the owner that the consultation fee is about to be charged
2. Owners often raise the most important concern last, once they feel heard
3. It replaces the need for a physical examination in a straightforward case
4. It lets the clinician end the visit without explaining the treatment plan

4 · Clinical records · medium

A farmer asks the clinician to sign a health certificate for animals the clinician has not examined, saying the usual vet checked them yesterday. What should the clinician do?

1. Sign the certificate, since the other vet's examination yesterday counts for both of them
2. Sign the certificate but date it yesterday to match the other examination
3. Decline to certify anything not personally examined or verifiable, and explain
4. Sign a blank certificate so the usual vet can complete the details later

5 · Prescribing · easy

What volume of a 10% solution provides 250 mg?

1. 25 mL
2. 0.25 mL
3. 2.5 mL
4. 10 mL

6 · Prescribing · medium

In the EMA categorisation of antibiotics for veterinary use, what does category B mean?

1. Avoid: not authorised in veterinary medicine and allowed only in exceptional individual cases
2. Caution: use when no category D drug would be clinically effective
3. Prudence: use as first-line treatment wherever an antibiotic is needed
4. Restrict: use only when susceptibility testing shows category C or D drugs will fail

7 · Client communication · medium

In the Calgary-Cambridge guide, which two tasks run continuously through the whole consultation?

1. Providing structure and building the relationship
2. Taking payment and booking the next appointment
3. Recording vital signs and updating the problem list
4. Explaining prognosis and obtaining signed consent

8 · Client communication · easy

What does informed consent for surgery require the owner to understand?

1. Only the procedure and its cost, since risks would alarm the owner needlessly
2. Only the risks of anaesthesia, since the choice of surgery itself is the clinician's alone
3. Only the expected discharge date, since owners rarely ask about other matters
4. Procedure, reason, benefits, risks, alternatives including no treatment, cost, aftercare

9 · Rural camps · easy

Most vaccines carried to a rural camp must be kept within which temperature range unless the label states otherwise?

1. 2–8 °C
2. −20 to −10 °C
3. 15–25 °C
4. 25–30 °C

10 · Ambulatory practice · easy

Which field test estimates the somatic cell count of each quarter of a cow's udder at the cow-side?

1. The withers pinch test
2. The FAMACHA test
3. The tuberculin test
4. The California Mastitis Test