1. Effective Study Strategies for the Veterinary Technician’s National Exam (VTNE)
Steven I McLaughlin DVM, MPH, DACVPM

2. A Story
Once upon a time, there was a world called veterinary medicine,
covered in many forests.
One forest was called “Dogs”; another “Pigs” and so on.
In the Dog forest, there were many trees. One tree might be called
“Radiology” and another called “Anesthesia”.
On that anesthesia tree might be a single leaf called “isoflurane”
One day, a good-hearted but near-sighted student wandered into
the Dog forest, and got so engrossed studying a leaf on a single tree
that she got lost, and a big bad wolf called VTNE came and ate her The End

3. The need for speed It is time to go fast, people.
The goal is not to know everything
The goal is not to get every question right
The goal is to pass
In the forests of knowledge, let this be your map

4. The 3 most effective things you can do
Do practice questions that are as much like the real VTNE® as possible (~50%)
Study notes, books with images (~50%)
Leave 2-3 weeks free before VTNE to RE-do test-mode tests and review notes

5. This presentation VTNE Structure Test-taking strategies
Study Strategies (hitting the books)

6. VTNE Structure 170 Multiple choice questions 3 hour test
About 1 minute per question
20 questions are “pilot” items
Not scored
Cannot tell which questions are “pilot”
Being evaluated for use in future VTNE exams
The clock doesn’t stop once you begin your test
Can take short breaks, but clock is still ticking
Source: VTNE Candidate Bulletin

7. VTNE Practice Domains Domain 1. Pharmacy & Pharmacology ~18 Qs (12%)
Domain 2. Surgical Nursing ~17 Qs (11%)
Domain 3. Dentistry ~10 Qs (7%)
Domain 4. Laboratory Procedures ~18 Qs (12%)
Domain 5. Animal Care and Nursing ~33 Qs (22%)
Domain 6. Diagnostic Imaging ~10 Qs (7%)
Domain 7. Anesthesia ~24 Qs (16%)
Domain 8. Emergency Medicine/Critical Care ~10 Qs (6%)
Domain 9. Pain Management/Analgesia ~10 Qs (7%)
150 Qs* (100%)
*Remember: There are actually 170 questions total, but 20 “pilot” questions don’t count You won’t know which ones are the pilot questions.
Source: VTNE Candidate Bulletin

8. Worth Remembering on Test Day
Must show up 30 minutes early
Must have Authorization to Test (ATT) letter w/ unique i.d. number
Must have identification
Photo-i.d. with name (ie: driver’s license, passport, military i.d.)
Name on i.d must match ATT name
i.d. must not be expired
No personal belongings allowed in test room
No calculator, cell phone or digital watch
No food or drink
No backpack, brimmed hats, purse or coat
What is allowed ?
Erasable whiteboard provided for calculations
Some people bring earplugs
Source: VTNE Candidate Bulletin

9. Study Smarter Start with a calendar 1st Pass: from now through July 5
Map out your study plan, week by week
Make test prep part of your routine
1st Pass: from now through July 5
All study-mode tests
Make or study summary notes with IMAGES!
2nd Pass: last 2-3 weeks before VTNE®
RE-DO all questions in timed test-mode
Review summary notes, books

10. VTNE Prep: Top 3 Useful Tools
Get one good book Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians, McCurnin and Bassert 8th edition
Do practice questions regularly
Workbook for Clinical Textbook for Vet Techs, 8th ed., McCurnin and Bassert’s
Zuku Review
Question of the Day
VTNE course
AAVSB self assessments for VTNE
Tune up with a good review VSPN VTNE Review
A live, online class with practice questions, notes and a forum.
Taught 3X/year by experienced and highly credentialed technicians.
Comprehensive and very well done.

11. Prep strategies for VTNE The 50:50 rule
Practice testing ~50% -ROUTINE days a week
Study ~50% -Hit the books -Write summary notes -REVIEW those NOTES
Goal: Finish practice testing, complete notes 2-3 weeks before the test

12. “It is not enough to be a good chess player, you must also play well.” -Savielly Tartakower

13. Practice testing for VTNE: ~50% of your time
“You don't get ready for a marathon by reading a book about it. You put on your running shoes and run.” Dr. Zuku
Practice testing helps accustom your mind and body to performing in the same way that you will need to do on your test day-it gives you experience with the testing environment and an objective measure of your strong and weak points. It also helps build your expertise at coping effectively with those inevitable questions about which you don't have a ready answer.

14. Multiple choice tricks of the trade
The Good News Correct answer is GUARANTEED to be among the choices
The Bad News You WILL hit questions you don’t know Common mistake: Spending MOST of your time on questions about which you know the LEAST.
Key to success: Train yourself to MAKE CHOICES and then MOVE ON.

15. Multiple choice tricks of the trade
READ the question first (DON’T look at answers)
PREDICT the answer (protects you from distractors)
Is your answer the best of the choices ? If “Yes” SELECT it and move on
Unsure of the correct answer ? ELIMINATE wrong ones, choose from what’s left, and MOVE ON
Half the battle is training your brain and your body how to cope with answering lots of practice questions, and how to cope with the inevitable questions you don't know. Even if you studied full-time from now till test day, you can fully expect to see questions you do not know on your test.

16. “What if I don’t think this system will work for me
“What if I don’t think this system will work for me ?” Do what works for you. “How do I know when I should I change an answer ?”
Stick with your first answer unless you recognize that it is clearly not correct - studies show that changed answers are more frequently wrong.
“I am clueless about chickens/cardiology/box turtle halitosis, what do I do?”
Read, Predict, Eliminate, Select -The correct answer is guaranteed to be among the choices. Whittle the choices down to as few as possible and guess.

17. Sources of practice questions
Books
Workbook for Clinical Textbook for Vet Techs, 8th ed., McCurnin and Bassert’s
Mosby’s Comprehensive Review for Vet Techs, 3rd ed., Tighe & Brown
Review Questions and Answers for Vet Techs, 4th ed., Colville
Online
VSPN VTNE review course: 8 weeks Winter TECH (Starts each January) Spring TECH (Starts each May) Fall TECH (Starts each September)
Zuku Review VTNE practice tests:
Question of the Day (free)
AAVSB self assessments for VTNE

18. VTNE self assessments A good way to prepare for VTNE
Produced by same people who write the VTNE
Two tests available
$45 each, 75 questions each
After test, look up answers to ones you didn’t know
Orients you to VTNE-question style, depth
Link: American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) self-assessment

19. “To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein

20. Hitting the books for VTNE: ~50% of your time
“Successful learning is not measured by how
many hours you study.
Successful learning means using the hours
you do have effectively.” Dr. Zuku
(Steven I Mclaughlin DVM, MPH, DACVPM)

21. A study technique that doesn’t work
“I spent 6 hours reading pharmacology
on Saturday,…..
But Monday, I didn’t remember any of it !”
“Reading = Learning” 21

22. USE IT OR LOSE IT MOST adults forget 50% of what they just read
And 80% within 24 hours BUT !!
Anything you have studied well will come back very quickly with a review
….if you make good notes

23. Summary Notes (and hitting the books) ~1/3 of your time
Why review visual summary notes? (and good visual books)
Faster, more effective than wading through pages of text
Images are like “mental duct tape”
Information sticks to them
Visual summary notes worth their weight in gold in weeks before test
NOTES:  The best approach (which few of us quite achieve...) is to try to finish a broad review 3 weeks before the big test. Along the way you should be summarizing your key topics with notes and giving regular time each study period to doing practice tests. You want your prep to be a routine thing you do through each week, according to a plan, not some spasmodic marathon Saturday study binge.... For the notes, they are best if organized and written by YOU. No notes I could write you or that you might find online are as good as ones where you personally processed and organized the information. It like you have written them in a language that your brain uniquely understands.

24. Mental velcro: Images
A picture IS worth a thousand words: Add pictures to your notes
Fluid-filled lungs: Pulmonary edema
“Floating lungs”: Pleural effusion
Images courtesy of Dr. Terri Defrancesco, DVM, DACVIM All rights reserved, copyright 2013

25. Mental velcro: Disease
Horner’s Syndrome: Remember "My 3rd Sunken Toe“ (Miosis, 3rd lid protrudes, Sunken eye, Ptosis) A syndrome, not a disease per se.
See 4 things with Horner's, ALL associated with the eye: 1. MIOSIS (constricted pupil) 2. PROTRUSION 3rd eyelid 3. ENOPTHALMOS (sunken eye) 4. PTOSIS (drooped eyelid),
Horner’s Syndrome: Remember "My 3rd Sunken Toe" (Miosis, 3rd lid protrudes, Sunken eye, Ptosis) and "sweaty horses". A syndrome, not a disease per se. Can see 4 things with Horner's, ALL associated with the eye: 1. MIOSIS (constricted pupil-lose sympathetic innervation) 2. PROTRUSION 3rd eyelid (nictitans) 3. ENOPTHALMOS (sunken eye) 4. PTOSIS (drooped eyelid), +/- anisocoria
What is it?
Image courtesy, Dr. Joel Mills, Wikimedia Commons 25

26. Outside a dog, a book is a man’s best friend
Outside a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read Groucho Marx
If you believe everything you read, better not read Japanese proverb 26

27. Good Books for VTNE *Pick of the Litter For overall review
* Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians, 8th ed, McCurnin & Bassert
If you can have only one book, this is the one. Covers everything, Great images. Anesthesia, dentistry, surgery, nursing, imaging, calculations-its all there
* VSPN Notebook version 4.0
Practical, clinical and constantly updated online. An excellent clinic and VTNE resource. Available online to VSPN and VIN members as part of membership.
Available to VSPN and VIN members in print form
Mosby’s Comprehensive Review for Veterinary Technicians, 3rd ed., Tighe & Brown Outline format is a little dry (few pictures), but lots of multiple choice questions after each chapter, and a long practice test at the end.
Pharmacology: Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook, 7th edition, Donald C. Plumb Also available online to VSPN and VIN members as part of membership.
For background on medicine and diseases
These may be too clinical for VTNE, but have excellent disease summaries and images
Bovine: Guide to Bovine Clinics 4th edition—Chris & Susan Pasquini
Equine: Guide to Equine Clinics 3rd edition—Chris & Susan Pasquini, Phil Woods
Dogs and Cats: Tschauner's Guide to Small Animal Clinics 2nd ed.—Chris & Susan Pasquini
Veterinary Clinical Advisor, Dogs and Cats, 1st ed. Cote' ed.
*Pick of the Litter

28. The final 2-3 weeks Second Pass
Practice testing Timed test-mode- redoing Qs you did in last few months to reinforce
-One minute per question -60 Qs at a time to build stamina -Random topics -No answers as you go -Try to mimic the real thing
Study
-REVIEW your notes -Skim misc. topics not in notes -Test yourself with flashcards, friends, game cards
Goal: Redo your practice questions of last few months Review summary notes until solid in your mind

29. The final 2-3 weeks: Keep a routine
Get regular exercise …Run, swim, square-dance, walk your dog, hamster or wombat
Get up at about same time you need to wake up on test day
Eat breakfast
Go immediately into 1-2 hours of practice tests, then notes review
Get your mind & body into a routine so the big day feels routine too
Don't give up.
Watch this video: Building confidence before a challenge- Excellent TED talk.
On test day, walk in with your head held high, and take it one question at a time

30. Good luck!
“No student knows his or her subject: the most he knows is where and how to find out the things he does not know.” –Woodrow Wilson

31. Selected references: Psychology of learning and decision-making
Good summaries “To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test”, New York Times, Jan 20, 2011, P. Belluck
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?” New York Times, Aug 17, 2011, J. Tierney
Peer-reviewed Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331,
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17,
Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1,
Carrier and Pashler: The Influence of Retrieval on Retention, Memory and Cognition, 1992, 20 (6)

32. References
The summary of multiple choice strategies comes principally from:
“What Smart Students Know” by Adam Robinson, co-founder of The Princeton Review test preparation company George Washington University Academic Success Center- “Strategies for Multiple Choice Questions” Kaplan Test Prep US Medical Licensure Exam (USMLE) Strategy Sessions
VTNE Candidate Bulletin

33. Example of a page from Pasquini
From: Pasquini, Pasquini & Woods, Guide to Equine Clinics, 3rd ed. p. 113 33