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VeterinaryEquine clinical techniques

On one calm horse you perform 8 standard equine procedures, from auscultation with a rebreathing bag to floating the teeth and describing the horse for official forms, explaining each one to the examiner, all within 45 minutes. It is station 2 (EQ02) of the Equine Practice section of the ECFVG Clinical Proficiency Examination.

Free to start

Scenarios

  • A normal horse of mild temperament, sedated if needed.
  • The drug for the injection discussion is drawn at random: xylazine, phenylbutazone, procaine penicillin, flunixin meglumine (Banamine) or acepromazine.

The steps

  1. Explain to the examiner what you are doing as you demonstrate or perform each technique.
  2. Auscultate the whole cardiorespiratory system, including with a rebreathing bag.
  3. Show the usual IM, IV and SQ injection sites, give an IV and an IM injection of saline and discuss the volumes each IM and SQ site accepts. Critical point
  4. For the drug drawn at random, discuss the injection route and its possible complications.
  5. Discuss how to prepare for and do a dental exam, estimate the horse's age, and discuss and show floating of the upper cheek teeth with manual rasps.
  6. Put a support (standing, shipping or stable) bandage on a forelimb.
  7. Discuss how to do a rectal exam safely and its possible complications.
  8. Do a basic eye exam with a direct ophthalmoscope and discuss what makes the exam easier.
  9. Describe how to do an abdominocentesis: the equipment, the gross look of the sample and the possible complications.
  10. Describe the horse to identify it on official forms, such as equine infectious anemia (EIA) testing or insurance enrollment.
  11. Finish the 8 skills within the 45 minutes.

Safety rules that stop the station

  • Not recognizing that the needle is in the carotid artery and going on with the injection is a fatal flaw: the examiner stops you and sends you to the next skill.
  • Handle the horse humanely and safely: the examiner can take points off or end the station with a fatal flaw and a zero, which fails the whole Equine Practice section.

To pass

  • The sheet scores 100 points: auscultation 15, injections 15, dental exam 11, bandage 11, rectal exam 11, eye exam 11, abdominocentesis 11, identification 15.
  • The station is 25% of the Equine Practice section, which needs 60 weighted points to pass.

Official source

AVMA · ECFVG CPE

Manual of Administration for the Clinical Proficiency Examination

The AVMA publishes the CPE Manual of Administration free: every station, its assessment sheet and the score needed to pass.

Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the AVMA, the ECFVG, the AAVSB, the ICVA, the Canadian National Examining Board or any state board. ECFVG, CPE, BCSE, PAVE and NAVLE are trademarks of their respective owners and are named only to describe the exams.