B.2 -2016
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics & Soft Tissue)
Specific Guidance Notes for Candidates
[These notes must be read in conjunction with the B1 General Guidance Notes to Candidates]
Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
1. It is a requirement of the Small Animal Surgery Board that ALL Candidates entering for the Diploma are Members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS).
Specific Experience
2. Candidates following a three year European College of Veterinary Surgeons residency (ECVS) should note that this only counts as one year towards their Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) experience.
Approved Centre Route
3. Candidates following an approved training programme at an approved centre will not be permitted to enter for the examination until they have been Members of the College or held an approved veterinary qualification for at least four years. They are required to offer experience in the subject over at least four years.
Centres currently approved are listed below:
Centre / DisciplineUniversity of Cambridge / Orthopaedics & Soft Tissue
University of Liverpool / Orthopaedics & Soft Tissue
North West Surgeons / Orthopaedics
Anderson Abercromby Veterinary Referrals / Orthopaedics
Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists / Orthopaedics and Soft Tissue
University of Bristol / Orthopaedics and Soft Tissue
Fitzpatrick Referrals / Orthopaedics
Croft Veterinary Hospital / Orthopaedics
Animal Health Trust / Soft Tissue
Willows / Orthopaedics
NDSR / Orthopaedics and Soft Tissue
Applications for approval of a Centre must be made directly by the Centre to the RCVS and not by the candidate. An application form can be obtained from the RCVS.
Approved Practice Route
4. Candidates following the approved practice route will not be permitted to enter for the examination until they have been Members of the College or held an approved veterinary qualification for at least five years and are required to offer experience in the subject over at least five years which must include 200 days at an approved centre.
5. If you are following the above route, you must ensure that the Board has approved the centre, where you are proposing to spend 200 days. (See above for a list of currently approved centres.) Please note it is for the centre to apply for “Approved” status.
6. There is no separate application form for practice approval other than the candidate applications forms included with this Information Pack. Practices are approved for each individual candidate.
7. The Board has discretion to increase the requirements for experience for any candidate above the minimum specified if it is considered to benefit the candidate.
8. Experience accepted for the Surgery Certificate may count towards the experience required for the Diploma, and this is at the discretion of the Board. Candidates would normally be holders of the Certificate in Small Animal Surgery but holders of the Certificate in Small Animal Orthopaedics would be eligible to apply for enrolment for the Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics) Diploma although not for the Surgery (Soft Tissue) Diploma. Following the closure of the ‘old style; Certificates, candidates who do not hold the Certificate in Small Animal Surgery or Certificate in Small Animal Orthopaedics are advised that obtaining the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice would be the preferred route on to either Diploma. However, it is no longer a pre-requisite to hold an RCVS Certificate before enrolling and the Board will consider equivalent qualifications and each application will be considered on individual merit.
Final Approval of Experience/ Additional submitted work
9. Candidates will need to submit titles of the proposed submitted work at either their initial enrolment (E1 & E1a) or final approval (E2) stage. (Please see paragraphs 14 and 21 below)
10. Photocopies of your CPD Record Cards for the relevant period of experience must also be enclosed at the final approval of experience (E2) stage. You should note that seeing practice should be considered CPD and should therefore be recorded.
The Examination
11. The examination consists of three sections:
· Two principal author published papers and one case report
· TWO x 3 hour written papers, and
· a clinical, oral, and practical examination.
Submitted Work for Examination
Requirements for Submitted work for Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue and Orthopaedics)
12. Candidates are required to submit three copies of each of the following - two principal author published papers and one case report (suitable for publication).
Two Published Papers and one case report
13. Candidates following this route are required to submit as part of the Diploma examination, three copies of two papers published in refereed journals where they are the principal author. Candidates should submit full details of publications, including name of journal, title of paper, date, and page number. Please note that reprints from the journal are preferred, but if the papers are “in press”, a letter from the Editor confirming unconditional approval (i.e. no further amendments of any sort) must be supplied.
14. One case report in a form suitable for publication in which the candidate is the principal author is also required at this stage (it is acceptable if the case report has already been published). The subject matter of the submitted work must receive the approval of the Board before submission of the papers; this would normally take place with the application for Final Approval of Experience E2. (Candidates are reminded that because a paper has been accepted for publication in a refereed journal, it does not necessarily mean it will pass section (a), and are also advised when submitting papers for publication, to allow time to receive and incorporate scrutinisers' comments and amendments, if any.)
15. The following statement should be inserted loosely at the front of the submitted work:
Published papers submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the RCVS Diploma in...... …………………………………….by (name of candidate).
Acknowledgements are due to: name………………...... for (description of assistance given).
16. Candidates are asked to submit an electronic version of their submitted work together with their hard copies. This will be retained at RCVS unless requested by the examiners for purposes such as checking the word count. The electronic version should be Microsoft Office 2000 or XP compatible and should be submitted on CD. Please ensure that the disks are easily identifiable by placing them in an envelope with your name, and ‘Electronic version of submitted work for “Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)” or “Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue) marked clearly on the front.
Grading Scheme
17. The submitted work will be graded “Good Pass”; “Pass” or “Fail”:
Good Pass—(60% or over)—the work will be lodged in the RCVS Library as a suitable example for future candidates.
Pass (defined as 50%)—The work is adequate to enable the candidate to proceed to the remaining sections of the examination, but the submitted work may need to be revised by the date of the clinical, oral and practical for lodging in the Library if the candidate is successful in the examination as a whole.
Fail (below 50%)—the work is not adequate to enable a candidate to proceed to the remaining sections of the examination for the year in question.
Written Examination
18. Candidates are warned that answers should be given specifically and that illegible handwriting may result in examiners being unable to award marks for information which candidates intended to convey. In addition, the Examiners will take into consideration spelling and whether or not the question has been answered in the form requested.
Format
Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue)
19. This Section consists of two threehour written papers:
· Paper I—will consist of eighteen short answer questions of which the candidate must answer all.
· Paper II—will consist of five questions of which the candidate must answer four.
Marks Scheme
· Paper l—will be marked out of 50 marks
· Paper II—will be marked out of 50 marks
Total Mark for this Section (b) = 100 marks
Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)
20. This Section consists of two threehour written papers.
· Paper I—will consist of five questions of which the candidate must answer four.
· Paper II—will consist of five questions of which the candidate must answer four.
Marks Scheme
· Paper l—will be marked out of 50 marks
· Paper II—will be marked out of 50 marks
Total Mark for this Section (b) = 100 marks
Clinical, Oral, and Practical Examination
Format – Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)
21. Candidates will have three individual vivas of 60 minutes, each marked out of 50 and covering the following:
· Case based (may include live cases)
· Imaging (may include radiographs, CT's, MRI scans, scintigraphy)
· Laboratory based (bloodwork, histology, cytology, pathology).
They will then have a panel viva with all the examiners, lasting around 60 minutes for each candidate and will also be marked out of 150.
A final mark calculated to be out of 100 will be awarded for all 4 vivas together.
Marks Scheme – Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)
22. This examination is composed of three short vivas (clinical, imaging and lab based) and one longer panel viva. The short vivas will each be marked out of 50, the panel viva out of 150. This will give a total for the COP out of 300 which will be converted to a percentage for the final mark scheme (giving a mark out of 100 for the written section and a mark out of 100 for the COP).
Format – Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue)
23. The Clinical/Oral and Practical (PowerPoint presentation, 25 short answer questions) will be marked out of 100 and candidates must pass all sections in order to pass overall. Candidates must gain 50% in the clinical/oral examination, which will be conducted in an interview style with candidates being questioned on a number of elements within the syllabus and being asked to demonstrate the breadth of their knowledge.
Marks Scheme – Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue)
24. The Clinical/Oral/Practical examination will be marked out of 100.
TOTAL Mark for this Section (c) = 100 marks
25. Candidates must pass all sections in order to pass overall.
Syllabus and Reading List
26. A syllabus, with a brief commentary, and reading lists for the Certificates are provided for reference. There are no separate reading lists for the Diplomas as candidates at this level are expected to be familiar with all literature in the area of their elective and most particularly so in the topic of their dissertation or submitted papers. Candidates should note that the Certificate reading list was frozen in 2002 and will eventually be withdrawn.
Advisers
27. Candidates should approach an adviser and obtain an agreement that they can work with them on a daily basis for the necessary period to complete the training programme. Advisers must be asked to sign all application forms before these are submitted to RCVS, thereby indicating that the candidate has made contact with them and that they are willing to act as adviser to the candidate. Candidates are urged to seek advice from their advisers.
28. Candidates should consult the RCVS Register of Members for a suitably willing and qualified individual (someone holding a Diploma or equivalent) who is familiar with the RCVS Certificate and Diploma examination system and clinically active.
Attendance at short courses
29. The Board wishes to encourage candidates to attend any appropriate short courses, and other events such as congresses, symposia and meetings which are relevant to small animal surgery and would be of benefit to the candidate's studies. The Board will take such attendance into account at the stage of considering a candidate's application for final approval of experience. Photocopies of your CPD Record Cards, appropriate to the period of experience offered must also be enclosed.
Abbreviation for Qualification
30. Successful candidates are permitted to use the abbreviation "DSAS(Orth)" or "DSAS(Soft Tissue)" after their names, in the RCVS Register of Members, and on practice plates and stationery etc.
Originated September 1994
ReviewedMay95/Nov95/June96/Jan97/May97/June98/May99/June00/Feb01/Jan02/Jan03/Mar04/April 08
C(O)
Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)
Commentary and Syllabus
Candidates are reminded of their commitment as registered members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to pay attention to the welfare of animals under their care.
Commentary
The Diploma training system is designed so that knowledge, skill and understanding in small animal orthopaedic surgery to the level of an expert can be acquired through exposure to a wide variety of diseases under the close supervision and guidance of Diplomates, or approved specialists with equivalent training and experience in small animal orthopaedic surgery.
Candidates will be expected to acquire knowledge and understanding of the basic science of surgical diseases (anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, pathology and pathophysiology) through attendance at seminars and conferences, and reading texts and journals.
The centre at which the candidate gains the necessary experience should be of a satisfactory standard and have a suitable caseload. The training programme will allow candidates to assume total responsibility for the initial consultation, planning, execution and interpretation of diagnostic procedures, and the surgical management of a wide variety of cases.
The training programme will include the indications for, and the interpretation of, the results of investigations including routine clinical pathology and the cytology and histological examination of biopsy specimens of muscle, tendon, nerve, joint and bone. It will include the indications for, and the interpretation of, the results of immunological tests as they relate to disorders with an orthopaedic component.
The training programme will include the indications for, and the interpretation of, the results of diagnostic imaging examinations. These will include radiography, contrast radiography, ultrasonography and arthroscopy. The principles of computerised tomography, MRI, electromyography and scintigraphy should be understood.
The training programme will include the indications for, and the usage of, therapeutic measures in routine case management including pharmacotherapy, fluid therapy, and blood transfusions. It will include the nutritional management of musculoskeletal disorders and the dietary management of the critically ill patient (enteral and parenteral management).