The NAVLE...

So I finally got to sit for the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination!! Needless to say that this has been a goal for a few years and today was finally the day! Now I don't like exams, in fact, I quite detest them. I feel that there are many appropriate methods of determining whether someone is competent, but standardized testing is just not my favorite method. For those who don't know that the NAVLE entails, here is a quick run-down: It is a computer-based exam that is a requirement for licensure to practice veterinary medicine in all licensing jurisdictions in North America. The NAVLE consists of 360 clinically relevant multiple choice questions administered in six blocks of 60 questions each. You 65 minutes to complete each block, for a total of 390 minutes (or six and one-half hours) of total examination time. They say that it is designed to assess your knowledge of veterinary medicine as it relates to entry-level private clinical practice. The majority of questions are related to major species such as dogs, cats, horses, food animals (cows, pigs, chickens, etc) and then they also throw in some exotics and lesser common species. Now I am find it hard to believe that most entry-level positions require knowledge of all species, but such is the exam and the requirements. To prepare I registered for VetPrep, which is an online prep course designed to prepare students for the format of the exam. I found it helpful, however it was a bit overwhelming since it has a wealth of information! Their promise is that if you finish a majority of the course and don't pass the exam, that they pay for your retake. Honestly, I don't know how anyone could get through all of the material because I feel like I was on there constantly and only got through less than 30% of the course. I must admit that there were questions that I felt very confident about, which was a tremendous help with time management, and there were questions that I felt I could work through and rule out at least some of the options presented. Finally, of course, were the questions that threw me for a curve and completely stumped me! My favorites included photos, such as a horse intestine or a bad radiograph of a chicken. The question with the horse intestine was "how old is the horse"? WTF?? Now I can approx the age of a horse using their teeth, but their innards is a totally different story! Regardless, I tried to rationalize my way through the question and all I can hope is that I chose the correct answer. After such a big exam all I can say is that I am tired. Preparing for this exam, and indeed for everything related to veterinary licensing, is exhausting. And what to say when asked, "how did it go?", "how do you feel?", the honest truth is that I don't know! I hate to feel too confident, because there were so many questions that made me go, "huh"? But, then again, I did know many other questions. Ultimately, it is what it is and the results will be available in January. I sure hope that this is one more milestone I can put behind me! Next stop? Vegas and CPE retake for anesthesia...let's do this thing!