VSPN TECH290-2019: Equine Exams Non Interactive

This course is a self-paced, non-interactive course.

Enrollment is closed
Instructor: Sue Loly, LVT, VTS-EVN
Course Open: January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019

Level and Prerequisites: This basic course is focused towards the equine exam and differences in various advanced equine exams. An understanding basic medical terminology and equine anatomy is recommended.
VSPN CE Course: Open to VIN and VSPN members.
This course has been RACE approved for veterinary technicians/technologists (22-32044).

Course Description:
Veterinary staff increase their value to a practice by understanding equine specific exams. Correct use of terminology in the veterinary workplace enhances client education and practice-wide communication. Veterinary staff should be able to perform basic exams and assist with advanced equine exams. Understanding normal vs abnormal exam findings in the veterinary workplace enhances client education and practice-wide communication. This course will introduce the concept of the basic physical exam as it applies to equines and then will expand to cover more specific aspects of equine exams for a variety of different conditions. Basic physical exams for equine will be covered as well as lameness exams, colic exams, and then it will touch on specialty exams and emergency exams. These exam modules are designed to educate veterinary technicians and assistants and not intended to be utilized for diagnosis by non-veterinarians. This is a basic course and will not branch into the physiology of various diseases and conditions or functions of individual systems and will not discuss specific nursing techniques.

Exam Basics and Lameness Exams
Total Time: 50 minutes
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • Recognize normal and abnormal findings in a basic equine exam
  • Identify abnormal behaviors that may indicate abnormal findings
  • Describe the normal and abnormal heart, lung and GI sounds
  • Explain the procedure for a basic equine exam
  • Recognize normal and abnormal conformation
  • Explain steps commonly used in all stages of a lameness exam
  • Describe the steps in the equine lameness scoring
  • Identify different modalities for lameness diagnosing
Colic Exams
Total Time: 28 minutes
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • Recognize potential signs of colic
  • Explain how to properly ascult and assess borborygmi in equine patients
  • Identify equipment and procedures related to diagnosing different types of colic
  • Understand different causes of equine colic
Specialty and Emergency Exams
Total Time: 32 minutes
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • Recognize specialized procedures for advanced exams
  • Identify different equipment that may be used for advanced exams
  • Describe various reasons for specialty exams
  • Explain various different emergent exams
Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course.

*To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.

Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.

About the Instructor:
Sue Loly, LVT, VTS-EVN is an experienced lecturer on large animal topics and state and national conventions. She has worked as a technician since 1999 in small animal, mixed practice and academia. She is an imaging specialist and senior veterinary technician at the University of Minnesota Large Animal Veterinary Medical Center. Sue has also co-edited a text for Wiley Blackwell: Large Animal Medicine for the Veterinary Technician 1st Edition.

Total CE Credit: 2

Tuition: $42
Prices are listed in US dollars.

* Students currently enrolled in and taking at least 2 classes or 5 units at an AVMA accredited or CAAHT approved Veterinary Technician Program may be eligible to receive a 50% discount off the regular rate for this course (upon verification of student status).
*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close at 5pm ET on December 1, 2019, or when the maximum number of participants is reached.

*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

  1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
  4. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 792 or email . Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.
Enrollment is closed

*Note: "This program (22-32044) is approved for 2 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval."
Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN office 800-846-0028 ext. 792 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.

*For more information on VSPN's upcoming CE courses, check the VSPN Course Catalog.

Lisa Kernaghan, LVT, RVT, CVT, VTS (ECC)
VSPN CE Coordinator

VSPN CE Services:
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 792
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01 45 222 6154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 02 6145 2357