91°µÍø

The CertAVP at the 91°µÍø encourages independent, adult-centred and self-directed learning, it is not a taught course.  The aim of the assessment process at the 91°µÍø is not only to support you to fully understand the quality of your current clinical practice but also to foster life-long learning skills and to advance and enhance your clinical knowledge, skills and understanding.  Reflective, critical practice is expected and encouraged.

The learning scaffold for CertAVP at the 91°µÍø is your clinical and professional experience - the learning you build by reading, formal CPD and other learning activities around the professional issues you have faced in your practice and the clinical cases you manage.  Setting your own learning goals to help you achieve the learning outcomes for the modules and seeking the learning opportunities that fulfil your learning needs are crucial activities for an adult learning experience.  So, although the CertAVP at the 91°µÍø is not a taught course (which can imply that everyone has the same learning needs), there are rich learning opportunities at every stage.  These include the detailed and personalised feedback you will receive on your work, a range of discounted 91°µÍø CPD courses that support learning outcomes for many CertAVP modules, a wide variety of online learning resources including access to the 91°µÍø library and where needed one-to-one learning support from our Learning Development team or module leaders. 

91°µÍø assessors have specialist and higher educational qualifications that ensure the level of assessment is educationally sound, robust, fair and at the level expected of veterinarians aspiring to achieve Advanced Practitioner status.  Extensive feedback is provided on all submitted work.  Assessment of your work is as and for your learning, not just of your learning.  Our aim is to help you develop life-long commitment to improving your practice, and therefore skills such as self-analysis, clinical reasoning, and accessing, interpreting, and applying information, are of utmost importance to the 91°µÍø-based CertAVP.

Reflection is an important component of the CertAVP for a very good reason and will remain.  By learning to reflect on your practice, you learn how to analyse what you do and why you do it, become better placed to explain this to clients or colleagues, and identify areas for improvement.  Even more importantly, where you are competent at a skill in one context, reflection probes you to consider whether you could repeat that skill in a more demanding situation, or adapt it to fit a more challenging context.  By analysing situations where you feel some discomfort, reflection encourages you to consider why you feel less satisfied, and how you could develop your approach to be more satisfying in future. 

Reflection is a critical part of the self-evaluation process in learning.  It helps you think about what you know or have learned and helps you identify areas of confusion, so you can create new learning goals.  Evaluating what you have learned, what you still need to work on, and how you can get there all supports developing deeper understanding rather than superficial knowledge.   Self-reflection and self-critique are essential components of the adult learning experience, life-long learning and professional practice.  Were it not for reflection, the implication is that there is no room for improvement. 

What you should know to be an advanced practitioner - Veterinary Business Journal, issue 181, April 2018

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

 The CertAVP is standard set to Masters level 7, and therefore marked in relation to the generic criteria for this level laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education within their 'Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland'.  The following level descriptors are adapted from the QAA definition of qualifications at this level, and should be used as an indicator of the level required:  

Candidates will need to demonstrate:

• a thorough understanding of the knowledge base and a critical awareness of developments at the forefront of their area of professional practice;
• a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own area of practice;
• originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and clinical enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in their professional area;
• conceptual understanding that enables them to:
• evaluate critically current literature and research in their professional area and
• evaluate clinical methodologies and techniques, and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate to propose new approaches to professional practice.

Typically, holders of the qualification will be able to:

• deal with complex issues in an organised and creative manner, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to veterinary colleagues and to non-veterinary audiences, including clients;
• demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks in their professional area of work;
• continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level;

Candidates will have the qualities and transferable skills necessary for professional veterinary work requiring:

• the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility;
• decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations; and
• the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development.

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

We offer you an array of support during your CertAVP studies: 

• Extensive feedback on your work - for passes and fails.  We believe in feedback for your learning, not just of your learning
• 1-2-1 coaching with a module leader via Microsoft Teams
• Tutor support for the AFAVP module - your tutor will support your development through the module, which will hopefully lead to higher quality feedback and an improved personal experience.  As much as possible, you will be matched to the species area of the examiners (i.e. small animal vets will be matched to small animal clinicians).
• Verbal feedback on your first AFAVP essay and BSAP therapeutics report
• Access to Learn, an online platform where you can see:
• sample work with feedback and grade
• sample C module exam questions
• relevant articles to read and reference
• guidance on reflective writing and correct referencing and tips for module preparation
• webinars by the module leaders about preparing the module assessment tasks
• Access to the 91°µÍø Library, online and onsite at the Camden and Hawkshead campuses
• Access to OpenAthens
• 20% discount on 91°µÍø CPD courses
• If you find yourself in Hertfordshire, you are welcome to come onsite and chat with the CertAVP team
• Contact with the 91°µÍø PG SU Rep and a current student acting as Student Rep

There are no lectures to attend, nor any teaching components.

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

Here are links to the module outlines for each module the 91°µÍø assesses:

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

Assessment of your work is as and for your learning, not just of your learning.  There is no formal taught component of the course.  Our aim is to help you develop life-long commitment to improving your practice, and therefore skills such as self-analysis, clinical reasoning, and accessing, interpreting, and applying information, are of utmost importance to the 91°µÍø-based CertAVP.

There are a variety of ways which we assess you:

• For AFAVP you are required to pass 3 essays, one reflective essay and a short online quiz
• For B modules you are required to pass 5 case reports plus one reflective essay
• For C modules, the assessments include a mix of case diary with synopsis, case reports, written exams and reflective essays

Here is the Assessment Timetable for all modules.

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

CertAVP Podcast - an interview with Professor Jill Maddison, CertAVP Course Director

In this podcast, CertAVP Course Director Jill Maddison chats to Rachel Davis, a developmental coach and educator, about managing the challenges that may occur when you return to academic study as a busy professional. Issues covered include why and how the CertAVP will feel different to undergraduate study as well as understanding its benefits and managing its challenges. The challenges and opportunities of developing critical and reflective life-learning skills and overcoming the “tyranny of distance learning”.

• Jill Maddison - CertAVP Course Director at the 91°µÍø
• Rachel Davis - Developmental coach and educator

Ethos of CertAVP at 91°µÍø

The CertAVP at the 91°µÍø encourages independent, adult-centred and self-directed learning, it is not a taught course.  The aim of the assessment process at the 91°µÍø is not only to support you to fully understand the quality of your current clinical practice but also to foster life-long learning skills and to advance and enhance your clinical knowledge, skills and understanding.  Reflective, critical practice is expected and encouraged. The learning scaffold for CertAVP at the 91°µÍø is your clinical and professional experience - the learning you build by reading, formal CPD and other learning activities around the professional issues you have faced in your practice and the clinical cases you manage. 

Discussion points

• What is lifelong learning and how can self-regulation strategies help me become/build a lifelong learning approach to study
• Why and how this course will feel different to undergraduate study
• Benefits of studying like this
• Challenges of studying like this
• Self and time management
• Reflective practice
• Receiving feedback, managing emotions associated with it when critical, how to get the most from it etc
• Academic reflective writing
• Specific learning differences and why they might crop up now (?)
• Resilience and well-being   

CertAVP Podcast: Feedback and Reflection - Why reflective practice is so important, the challenges of developing the skills needed for reflective writing in an academic and clinical context, why the rich feedback that you will receive on your work at the 91°µÍø is so important in the journey to becoming a reflective practitioner and how to get the most from that feedback. 

• Jill Maddison - CertAVP Course Director at the 91°µÍø
• Rachel Davis - Developmental coach and educator

For more information, please email certavp@rvc.ac.uk or call 01707 666201

• Ensure you meet the s first (UK-based applicants must be on the RCVS Home Practising Register, whilst applicants based outside the UK must hold a qualification that would entitle them to register as a member of the RCVS).
• You must have at least one year's experience working as a practising veterinary surgeon before enrolling for any module.
• You must also be able to provide evidence of CPD to the RCVS for that period.
• If you graduated in 2007 or later you will be expected to have completed the RCVS Professional Developm