Beating the NAVLE

Taking the NAVLE… did a shutter just go down your spine? The North American Veterinary Licensing Exam, better known as the NAVLE is one of the last hurdles you’ll need to jump during the marathon that is vet school. As it currently stands at the time of this post, it is 360 questions long, you get one hour and ten minutes per section of 60 questions, and a total of 45 minutes of break time. Luckily, 60 of the 360 don’t count because they are field questions. Here are my thoughts and tips about how to best conquer the NAVLE, and put it behind you once and for all.

When to Study

Studying for the NAVLE will most likely take place during your clinical year of vet school. Since you’ll have so much free time during your spurious 12 hour shifts on clinics, this is the perfect time to study. Obviously I’m kidding. The timing of this test could be better, but challenge number one is scheduling your study time. The best advice I can give is to start studying as early as possible. Starting about 6 to 8 months out is not uncommon, but it differs for each person, just give yourself enough time. Make a conscious effort to sit down and plan out your studying timeline. See how much material you need to be getting through each day and stick to it. Make an appointment with yourself to study each day and don’t break it. You wouldn’t cancel a date or a meeting with someone just because you didn’t feel like going, so don’t do that to yourself.

Block out the time in your day, and be loyal to it.

If possible, I suggest taking a vacation block where you can spend two or three weeks deep diving into your studies closer to test time. This gives you time to really buckle down on material and give yourself a time to hyper focus on test preparation.

How to Study

Prepare yourself for the big ticket items, focus on strengthening the things you know and build your tolerance for sitting down and firing through questions. You’ve seen all of the content that will be on the NAVLE in some form or fashion. You just need to sort through what is important and learn how to problem-solve through cases. My suggestion would be to look at the disease list that is provided by the ICVA at the link below. Don’t open it before you finish reading this though, because it is 20 pages long and looks scary; don’t worry. Cross reference this list with the breakdown of questions by species to hone in what you should really focus on. Look through this list, break down a schedule of how long it will take you to tackle it, and execute. As you go through this list just make sure you understand each thing and don’t focus on learning or memorizing it just yet. You should do this first, before you really start to get through your formal studying. THEN start doing lots and lots of practice questions. If you can do this and stick to it, I have no doubts that you will pass.

https://www.icva.net/image/cache/2010_Diagnoses_2.pdf

What to Study

In addition to reviewing the diagnosis list and your personal notes and resources, there are several preparation programs out there that are helpful and I consider to be worth the money. I won’t endorse a specific one because that would influence your decision and you should find which one better suits your learning style. Each has pros and cons and will serve a different type of person. The overarching purpose of these programs is to help you practice looking at multiple choice questions, and timing yourself to be able to think through information quickly. One big thing to watch out for is something I like to call FOMOOS better known as ‘fear of missing out on studying’. I could tell you to not feel guilty when you’re not studying all day long, because you really shouldn’t, but I’m a solutions-driven person so here are some tips. Listen to lectures about topics you are weak on, or find veterinary related podcasts to listen to while you drive. Listening to these lectures will eliminate that guilt of wasting time, and help you progress through your preparation when you don't have time to sit down and study.

What Kinds of Questions Are on the NAVLE

Although the test is brutal and unrealistic in its execution, I think the content is fair. It is information that a first-year veterinarian should know (for the most part). When you’re studying, don’t be tricked into learning arbitrary trivia about specific diseases and treatments. Learn a disease from beginning to end. That means: history, clinical signs, diagnostics, interpretation, client communication, treatments, side effects, prognosis and after-care (and anything else I may have forgotten). This is the most difficult part that no study program will fully prepare you for, and where I believe I was most handicapped. Some questions would list all the information I knew in the question, then ask for something one step beyond where my knowledge ended. If you can fully exhaust all aspects of a disease, you’ll be much more successful in answering these types of questions.

Taking the NAVLE

Remember how you felt taking the SAT and GRE… it’s that, but worse. When I was preparing, many previous test-takers told me the NAVLE was a joke, it was easy and more of a formality. I’m not going to sugarcoat things or lie in order to comfort you. It is not a joke, and it is not easy; but it is also not impossible, many people pass this exam every year. The biggest thing I wasn’t prepared for is the feeling of not knowing how I’m doing throughout the exam period.

Think about this: how long do you usually have to wait to check if you’re right, or look up the answer when you don’t know something? Minutes. We have Google, we have notes, we have peers. When you take an exam, they’re short, focused and you know your grade within a few weeks.

You will be FRUSTRATED while taking the NAVLE because there is no indication on how you’re doing, and no way to know. You must not let this mental battle slow you down. Go into the exam prepared for this, and try to block out these negative thoughts from consuming your brain power.

Take your breaks, bring snacks, caffeine and hydration. You won’t get extra points for finishing early, and your scope is to only take this exam once if possible. Remind yourself that the more patience you can deploy during this 8 hours, the better your chances will be of passing. The last questions count just as much as the first, so when it gets hard and all you want to do is get through the last section and go home, dig deep, grit your teeth, and do whatever you need to recharge and go knock those last questions out of the park with the same focus and clear thinking you had at 8AM when you started.

After the Test

When you walk out of the exam, you will feel terrible about it. You will only remember the hard questions; the ones you felt like you didn’t know. It is a natural human tendency to focus on things you did poorly, rather than focus on the good—this is normal and this is why you’ll feel like you did so bad. In reality, you answered lots of questions correctly, but your brain is playing tricks on you and not letting you remember those. You will be mentally exhausted and you will feel like you failed. Plan to take care of yourself the rest of the day, and don’t go do something that involves making lots of decisions because you will be sick of answering questions. Treat yourself to something nice, relax, and pat yourself on the back for getting through that monster. If you need to reference a few answers to see if you got them right, go ahead, but it’s over. Worrying will not speed up the process or change your score. You’ll find out in mid-January if you took the November exam and mid-May if you took the April exam.

I really hope these tips help at least one of you be more successful and have a better mindset walking into the testing center. I can always be reached on Instagram @alexandrupoppy or via email apopbm@gmail.com for any questions. If you’re panicked about studying, or in a bad place and need to talk to someone, please reach out to me. I will help you. I can’t wait for more of you to execute on this advice and get on the path to finding happiness and success in your education!