Phase II
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INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

PHASE II EXAMINATION

The specialty of veterinary clinical pharmacology requires an advanced knowledge of the factors that complicate rational drug use for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in animals. This examination will evaluate the depth and breadth of the candidate's knowledge and comprehension of the specialty.

Notification of intent

  • Eligible candidates must notify the ACVCP of their intent to take Phase II of the cerfication examination before February 1st of the year of the examination by completing the on-line notificaton of intent form on the ACVCP website at www.acvcp.org and by paying the required examination fee.
  • Candidates for the Diplomate Certification Examination shall pay to the College when notification of intent is made to taker either phase, an examination fee of $300 for Phase II.
  • These fees are non-refundable whether or not the applicant takes the exam and must be received by the Secretary-Treasurer post-dated no later than February 1st of each year.
  • A candidate who is deemed ineligible, or if eligible, who declines to take Phase II of the Examination after notification of intent has been submitted shall be required to pay an additional prescribed fee of $300 when notification of intent is made again to take Phase II.
  • A candidate who does not pass the Phase II Examination shall be required to complete a notification of intent and to pay an additional prescribed fee of $300 for subsequent reexamination of that failed Phase II.

    • Examination

    The Phase II Examination is a written examination consisting of ten questions. Candidates must have passed the Phase I examination to be eligible for the Phase II Examination. Candidates may take both the Phase I Examination and the Phase II Examination in the same year. If a candidate so desires, he/she must notify the Secretary/Treasurer. The Examinations will be given on consecutive days.

    Examination Philosophy

    The Phase II Examination is intended to evaluate the candidate's performance in specific areas that define clinical pharmacology. The candidate is expected to be able to apply his/her basic knowledge of the major drug groups and basic principles of clinical pharmacology to problems in veterinary clinical medicine. The Diplomate is expected to understand the basic mechanisms and pathophysiological features of a wide variety of diseases occurring in animals. The candidate should understand the role of drugs in modifying the disease process, and the potential complications caused by the drugs administered. In addition, the candidate should have an understanding of the analytical and statistical methods used to investigate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs in clinical patients and experimental animals. The candidate should be familiar with recent advances in chemotherapy and therapeutics of serious illness. The candidate should understand the drug regulations in the United States and the drug approval process used for new animal drugs.

    Examination Results and Appeals

    Examination results will be sent to all candidates on the same day and within 60 days after completion of the examination. Candidates are not allowed to review their examinations and will not be notified of their total scores; they will be informed of whether their performance was a pass or a failure. Candidates failing to pass the Diplomate Certification Examination may appeal this decision within 30 calendar days of the postmarked date of notification. The request for appeal must be made in writing to the Secretary-Treasurer and shall include a statement of the grounds for reconsideration and appropriate documentation.

    Examination Format

    1. Each candidate will be identified on his or her examination with a number known only to the candidate and the Chairperson (or his/her delegate who administers the examination). When grading questions, examiners will be blinded as to the identity of the candidate, and the scores assigned by other examiners. All examiners will be members of the Examination Committee.
    2. There will be ten questions on the Phase II written examination, each with ten parts. Each part is equally weighted with 10 points. Therefore, each question is worth 100 points. The questions shall each represent information from one of 4 Subject Categories; (i) Therapeutics, (ii) Pharmacokinetics and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, (iii) Experimental Design, Statistics and Analytical Methods and (iv) Regulatory Pharmacology. Subject Categories are described in detail below.
    3. Ideally, every question will be scored by 6 members of the Examination Committee. No more than six examiners will score each question. A minimum of 5 examiners must score each question.
    4. Each part of each question will be scored by each examiner using one of the following categories: a) 0 = Completely incorrect b) 5.0 = Strong fail c) 6.5 = Weak fail d) 7.5 = Weak pass e) 9.0 = Strong pass f) 10 = Completely correct
    5. Each examiner's total score for each question is the sum of the numerical score for each of the ten constituent question parts.
    6. The score for each question of each candidate is the mean of the (five or six) examiners' total scores for that question.
    7. A candidate's score for the Phase II Examination is the mean of all 10 written questions. A score greater than or equal to 70.0% is required for passing.
    8. Use of a computer to write your answer is permitted. If you wish to use a computer you must notify the Examination Committee Chairman before the deadline set each year. A suitable desktop computer and software will be provided. You are not permitted to use your own computer.
    9. Ordinarily the examination will take place from 8:00 to 12:00 and 2:00 to 6:00 on the test day. You will be notified of the results within 60 days of the test date.
    10. You must notify the Examination Committee Chairperson if you have a medical problem, impairment, or disability that requires any special assistance or accommodation for the examination. This notification is needed 30 days prior to the examination date.

    Subject Categories.

      Within each Subject Category several subject areas may be represented on any given examination:
    1. Therapeutics - 4 questions
      1. Management of pain.
      2. Management of inflammation.
      3. Management of infections.
      4. Management of medical emergencies (for example, circulatory shock, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, pulmonary edema, thromboembolism, diabetic ketoacidosis, seizures, bronchoconstriction, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, neoplasia, etc.)
      5. Management of specific organ failures and neoplasia.
      6. Recognition and management of drug toxicity and adverse drug reactions of either an acute or chronic nature.
      7. Recognition and management of drug interactions.
    2. Pharmacokinetics and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - 2 questions
      1. Factors affecting drug disposition and drug action (pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics), including physiologic state (e.g. species, age, gender, etc.), pathological state (disease) and drug interactions.
      2. Evaluation of drug therapy in patients through the application of therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic methods.
      3. Calculation of the dose of drugs from knowledge of the minimum effective drug concentration, bioavailability, effective plasma drug concentrations, route of elimination, and other pharmacokinetic data. Similarly, the candidate should be able to modify dosage regimens to accommodate for pharmacokinetic alterations caused by disease.
    3. Experimental Design, Statistics and Analytical Methodology- 2 questions
        Interpretation of experimental and statistical data obtained from drug studies performed in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo.
      1. Planning and interpretation of clinical trials for the evaluation of safety and efficacy of veterinary drugs.
      2. Planning and interpreting pharmacokinetic studies in animals.
      3. The use and interpretation of statistical methods to evaluate studies of drugs in animals.
      4. Knowledge of the analytical methods used to detect and quantify drugs in animal body fluids and tissues (for example, GC, HPLC, RIA, ELISA, EMIT, FPIA). The candidate should have a practical competence in assay validation and quality control.
    4. Regulatory Pharmacology - 2 questions
      1. A practical understanding of the process of veterinary drug development and approval.
      2. An understanding of the legal and regulatory considerations pertinent to extra-label drug use, drug compounding, avoidance of violative drug residues in food animals, prescription writing, and responsibilities for using and dispensing controlled substances.

    Sources of Study Materials:

    The following list contains references the Examination Committee suggests for use in preparation for the examination. The source of questions is not necessarily limited to this reference list. The most recent editions of the following are suggested reading:

    1. Adams HR (Ed): Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Iowa State University Press.
    2. Hardman JG, Limbird LE, Molivroff PB, Ruddon RW (editors): Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, McGraw-Hill, Columbus, Ohio.
    3. Rowland M, Tozer TN: Clinical Pharmacokinetics: Concepts and Applications, Lea & Febiger.
    4. Katzung, BG: Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Appleton & Lange, Norwalk, Connecticut.
    5. Ettinger SJ, Feldman EC (Ed's): Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, WB Saunders Co.
    6. Howard JL (Ed): Current Veterinary Therapy: Food Animal Practice, Philadelphia. WB Saunders.
    7. Bonagura JD (Ed): Current Veterinary Therapy, Most recent edition, (Small Animal), WB Saunders Co., (and drug therapy sections in previous editions).
    8. Melmon KL et al: Melmon and Morelli's Clinical Pharmacology: Basic Principles in Therapeutics. McGraw-Hill, 1992.
    9. Robinson NE (Ed): Current Therapy in Equine Medicine, WB Saunders.
    10. Smith BP (Ed): Large Animal Internal Medicine: diseases of horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. St. Louis, Mosby, 1996.
    11. Proceedings of the Special and Biennial Symposia of the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics: There are copies of these proceedings printed every two years from 1978 to 1994. Copies may be available from a veterinary college library or the Secretary/Treasurer of the AAVPT.
    12. Veterinary Clinics of North America. There have been several issues published on veterinary clinical pharmacology: 1988 - Issue 18:6 (small animal); 1987 - Issue 3:1 (Equine); and 1991 - Issue 7:3 and 1992 - Issue 8:1 (Food Animal). 1994-Issue 9:3 Equine Practice; Drug Use in the Performance Horse. 1999 - Equine Practice; Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
    13. Evans WE, Schentag, JJ, Jusko WJ (eds) Applied Therapeutics, Applied Therapeutics Inc. Vancouver, WA.
    14. Handbook of Basic Pharmacokinetics. Including Clinical Applications (Ritschel WA, author, 4th Ed) Drug Intelligence Publications, Inc (1992, Hamilton, IL).
    15. *http://www.fda.gov/cvm/guidance/published.htm for links to FDACVM Guidance documents with emphasis on:
    16. *Animal Medical Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) http://www.fda.gov/cvm/index/amducca/amducatoc.htm
    17. *Compliance Policy Guidelines for compounding (CPG 608.400) http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/cpg/cpgvet/cpg608-400.html
    18. Articles pertaining to veterinary clinical pharmacology and applied therapeutics, from reputable journals over the three calendar years preceding the examination. Candidates will not be examined directly on information published only in journal articles in the calendar year of the examination. The following list includes some journals which may be relevant to the candidate's preparation

      19. * Please note. Although these addresses were accurate on 1/20/2004, the World Wide Web addresses for specific documents may change. Both FDA servers provide extensive search capabilities that can be used to find these documents.