Certified Veterinary Assistant Program Practice Exam
Education
1. Veterinary Medical Terminology Objective: To evaluate the candidate's proficiency in understanding and applying veterinary medical terms across various contexts. Medical Terminology Fundamentals Dissecting medical terms into roots, prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms. Understanding terms related to direction, surface, planes, cavities, membranes, positions, and movement at joints. Defining terms associated with cells, cellular organelles, genetic conditions, and tissues. Recognizing terminology specific to different animal species, including equine, cattle, goats, sheep, swine, dogs, and cats. General Veterinary Medical Terms Positional terms: ventral, dorsal, cranial, caudal, anterior, posterior, rostral, cephalic, medial, lateral, superior, inferior, proximal, distal, superficial, deep, palmar, plantar. Plane terms: midsagittal, sagittal, dorsal, transverse. Cavity terms: cranial, spinal, thoracic, abdominal, peritoneal, pelvic. Membrane terms: peritoneum, parietal peritoneum, visceral peritoneum, umbilicus, mesentery, retroperitoneal. Recumbent terms: dorsal recumbency, ventral recumbency, left lateral recumbency, right lateral recumbency. Movement terms: adduction, abduction, flexion, extension, hyperflexion, hyperextension, supination, pronation. Terms with numerical values: uni-, duo- or bi-, tri-, quadri- or quadro-, quinqu- or quint-, sex-, sept-, octo-, novem- or nonus-, deca- or decem. Veterinary Medical Terms at the Cellular Level Understanding the structure and function of cells, including the protoplasm, cell membrane, cytoplasm, and organelles such as the nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, vacuoles, and lysosomes. Genetic conditions: congenital disorders, anomalies. Tissues: epithelial, connective, muscle, nervous. Formation of tissue: terms like -plasia, -trophy, anaplasia, aplasia, dysplasia, hyperplasia, hypoplasia, neoplasia, atrophy, dystrophy, hypertrophy. Glands: exocrine glands, including their functions and importance. Assessment, Pharmacology, and Surgery Examination terminology: vital signs, auscultation, palpation, percussion, speculum use. Laboratory tests: venipuncture, refractometer, centrifuge, blood test terminology such as agglutination, assay, complete blood count, differential, diluent, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, hematocrit, hemogram, immunofluorescence, leukogram, profile, prothrombin time, radioimmunoassay, red cell count, serology, white cell count. Basic medical terminology: diagnosis, including terms like carapace, chin glands, dysecdysis, ecdysis, femoral pores, head gland, hemipenes, musk glands, plastron, scent gland, scute, spectacle, tail autotomy. Abbreviations for laboratory animals and pocket pets: ACBA, ACLAM, AFA, ARBA, AZVT, LAT, LATG, 3 Rs. 2. Veterinary Practice and Nursing Care Objective: To assess the candidate's knowledge and skills in veterinary practice operations, nursing care, and related procedures. The Veterinary Practice Careers in veterinary medicine: education requirements, nomenclature, duties of veterinary technicians, career opportunities, salary ranges, professional organizations, specialty certifications. Complying with ethical guidelines: human-animal bond, ethics in the professional environment, ethics of public service, ethics in biomedical research, protection of all animals. Complying with legal requirements: quality of veterinary service laws, including the Veterinary Practice Act, common law malpractice, laws providing a safe business environment, the Animal Welfare Act. Safety standards in veterinary medicine: occupational health and safety, biosafety hazard considerations, occupational health and safety in veterinary practice, hazardous materials handling, electrical hazards, fire safety, personal safety. Managing a Veterinary Practice Front office procedures: first impressions, phone etiquette, scheduling appointments, greeting clients, office cleanliness, common forms used, invoicing clients. The office visit: admitting patients, discharge instructions, pet health insurance, hospital accreditation. Veterinary practice operations: team members, hiring practices, training, leadership, inventory control, equipment maintenance, facility management. Veterinary Diagnostics Diagnostic imaging techniques: radiology, ultrasound, endoscopy. Collecting blood samples: venipuncture, capillary sampling. Clinical chemistry: blood chemistry panels, electrolyte analysis. Parasitology: fecal examinations, blood smears, skin scrapings. Veterinary Therapeutics Pharmacology: drug classifications, dosages, routes of administration, side effects, drug interactions. Vaccinations: core and non-core vaccines, vaccination schedules, client education. Anesthesia: pre-anesthetic assessment, anesthetic agents, monitoring, recovery. Fluid therapy: