Certificate of Small Animal Veterinary Practice

Soft Tissue Surgery

The Certificates in Surgery are based on the well known residential courses of the ESAVS in this discipline, examinations of these courses and by keeping a case log which promotes application of newly learned methods and skills in daily practice at home and throughout the whole program.
Two Certificates are established in the specialty Small Animal Surgery:

• Certificate in Small Animal Veterinary Practice / Soft Tissue Surgery
• Certificate in Small Animal Veterinary Practice / Orthopaedics (only in Europe)

The Soft Tissue Surgery Certificate program comprises three Modules:

Module 1: Courses

To obtain the Certificate in Small Animal Veterinary Practice / Soft Tissue Surgery, a minimum of 25 ECTS credits (5 weeks of course attendance) need to be acquired.

A minimum of 20 ECTS credits have to be collected in the major subject: Soft Tissue Surgery.
The remaining ECTS credits can be collected in other disciplines (minor subjects).

The related minor subjects for the Soft Tissue Surgery Certificate are presented in the following ESAVS courses (list subject to change):

• Orthopaedics
• Emergency and Critical Care
• Anaesthesiology
• Neurosurgery
• Oral Surgery
• Radiology
• Endoscopy
• Oncology
• Feline Soft Tissue Surgery
• Soft Tissue Surgery – Laparoscopy
• Other course work accumulated from instruction taken outside of ESAVS after approval by the Post Graduate Committee (maximum 5 ECTS credits)

To set up your course curriculum please refer to the individual courses for exact ECTS Credit distribution.

Module 2: Case Logs

During enrolment in the Certificate Program, candidates are expected to apply the new knowledge and skills acquired in the courses to the activity in daily practice. candidates are required to accumulate 100 well-documented cases in the form of a case log. The case log shall be compiled mostly in the second half of the program. Each case inserted in the case log must be supported by detailed documentation. The evaluator may randomly request the documentation for some cases which the candidate must then immediately deliver by email. Further instructions regarding the case spread are available on the ESAVS website (www.esavs.eu) and a template will be provided after enrolment. The case log is evaluated and graded by the examination board. A passing grade has to be obtained.

Module 3: Examination

An exam must be passed for each course. Examinations are conducted online at the end of each semester. Exams can be taken at any of the bi-annual examination sessions offered during enrolment in the program. They may be spread over several sessions or taken together in one single session. The exams consist of multiple choice questions and examination of appropriate clinical cases or pictures related to the subject(s) covered in that course. A passing grade of 50 % has to be obtained. 

Duration of the Program

The minimum time requirement for the Certificate program is 2 years. Though a prolongation is possible under certain conditions, the maximum time should not exceed 4 years. An applicant can enter the program immediately after graduating from veterinary school but the Certificate can only be obtained when the applicant has been practicing small animal veterinary medicine for at least 3 years since obtaining her/his veterinary degree.

Please click on the following buttons to learn more about