This page provides relevant information and guidelines for Residents enrolled on an ECVS Training Programme.
ECVS Training Brochure
The ECVS Training Brochure covers all aspects of the training and is essential reading for all Residents and Supervisors - read more here.
Reporting to the Credentials Committee
Reporting instructions for Residents and Alternate Trainees - read more here.
Resident Research Grant
Every year, the ECVS awards two Resident Research Grants - read more here.
Resident Ombuds
The Ombudspersons represent the interests of the Residents enrolled on ECVS programmes - read more here.
Board Examination
The ECVS board-certifying examination is the final step in becoming a Diplomate - read more here.
Events and Jobs Market
Check our current meetings, courses and job adverts.
Resident Committee
The Resident Committee is the point of contact for residency-related dialogue - read more here.
Code of Conduct
The ECVS Code of Conduct defines the professional and ethical guidelines for Diplomates and Residents - read more.
ECVS Training Brochure
The ECVS Training Brochure has been updated in September 2023.
All Residents and Supervisors are expected to familiarise themselves with and adhere to these guidelines when applying and submitting Annual Reports and Credentials.
Contact Information
Please direct all correspondence pertaining to Resident Training, annual reports, credentials, applications, programmes, and programme recertification at [email protected]. This will ensure that your message reaches the right person and can also be dealt with in case of personal absences.
Phone: +41 (0)44 635 84 90
Reporting to the ECVS
The reporting modalities are described in Chapter 9. How to report to ECVS of the Training Brochure.
The deadlines to report to the Credentials Committees are 31st July for annual reports and 15th August for credentials.
All ECVS Residents are required to submit an annual report for every year of training until all training requirements have been completed. Once this is the case, the final credentials to be accepted to sit the board-certifying examination are to be submitted.
- An annual report must also be submitted even if the 156 weeks of training are completed and a Resident has already left their training institution, but has not yet completed all credentialing requirements (for example if a presentation or publication is missing). One annual report each year until the submission of credentials is expected.
- In the year when a Resident submits their credentials, no annual report is required; the credentials submission substitutes the annual report in the final year.
Annual reports and credentials are to be submitted via the ECVS Resident Electronic Database (RED), which is accessible to all accepted Residents*) via their 'your ECVS' account (link '(RED) Submissions >'). Please read the 'Instructions' menu in RED for relevant instructions on how to submit annual reports and credentials.
*) Small Animal Residents with a starting date before 1 st July 2019 please see specific reporting instructions below.
Further information:
- Where to publish - for a list of accepted journals please consult the Training Brochure, Element 8: Produce, publish and present Clinical Research.
- Requirements for surgical procedures - are listed in the Training Brochure, Element 3: Case load of adequate size, standard and variety.
- Updated coding information is available for all SA Residents, particularly for those in training before July 2019, in the Training Brochure: Element 3 pages, 18 and 19.
- For training periods affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, please observe our special COVID-19 reporting instructions
Reporting Forms
Please make sure to download the current forms each year and do not reuse and overwrite old forms.
Please find hereunder the forms to document the mandatory outrotations. These forms are to be used by all Residents, also to be uploaded to RED. Please make sure to have the form completed and signed by the outrotation supervisor; incomplete forms are often a reason for the Credentials Committee to request corrections to an annual report, which results in a delay in accepting the report.
- Anaesthesia outrotation form
- Diagnostic Imaging outrotation form
- Internal Medicine outrotation form
- Pathology outrotation form
The following reporting forms are only for the use of Small Animal Residents who started their training before 1 July 2019 and yet report via the to be phased out CredEv site. All other Residents submit their reports via RED and do not need to use these forms.
- Evaluation form: Please refer to the evaluation form for a complete list of documents to be submitted per year. The evaluation form is to be submitted along with the annual report or credentials submission.
- Supervisor statement; if the programme has been affected by COVID-19, please use the updated Supervisor statement
- Small Animal Programme Log Summary
- Small Animal Surgery Case Log
- Activity Log (example for a completed activity log incl. a COVID-19 interruption of the training)
- Presentation Log (example of a completed presentation log incl. a meeting affected by COVID-19)
- Payment forms for annual report fee and credentials fee (when submitting credentials, only the credentials fee is to be paid, not an annual report + a credentials fee)
- Credentials application form (only to be submitted with the credentials application (final year))
All documentation to be uploaded to CredEv only; no paper documents are to be sent to the ECVS Office.
Resident Research Grant
Every year, the ECVS awards two Resident Research Grants of up to € 7'500, one for a Small and one for a Large Animal research project.
The deadline to submit research grant applications is 1st December.
The award winner will be ratified by the Board of Regents at the February meeting of the following year.
Residents applying for a grant are requested to carefully read the guidelines before submitting and follow the instructions for submitting:
- Both spreadsheets of the Excel application form are to be completed.
- Only the yellow fields are to be filled in by the applicant; the gray fields are completed automatically.
- The second spreadsheet ('Blinded Research Project') must be completed entirely anonymously; i.e. no names, specific facility names or anything that points to a specific institution or individuals must be mentioned here to allow for an entirely blinded assessment process by the Research Committee.
- Please observe the additional explanatory notes and instructions in the Excel file.
- The second spreadsheet ('Blinded Research Project') is to be converted into a PDF file. This section must not exceed 5 pages (PDF, A4 portrait format).
- For a complete submission, both files - the entire Excel file + the PDF file of the second spreadsheet - must be submitted to [email protected].
Please also see the example of a complete application: Excel application form / PDF of blinded proposal
Resident Ombuds
The role of the ombuds is to represent the interests of the Residents enrolled on ECVS training programmes. The typical duties of an ombuds are to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations or mediation. The ombuds is independent of all ECVS committees. He/she is appointed by the Board of Regents.
Contact Information
Residents wishing to contact the Ombuds can write to [email protected]. In their first contact email, they do not need to disclose any reasons for wanting to speak to the Ombuds. The request will be forwarded to the Ombuds entirely confidentially. Ombuds and Resident will then continue the conversation directly via email, telephone or online. Both Resident and Ombuds can request or suggest a different individual to consult if a conflict of interest is perceived.All cases will be treated confidentially. The Ombuds submits a report to the Board of Regents before each Board meeting documenting the cases he/she has been consulted on and the advice given and resolution sought and achieved. To maintain confidentiality, the identity of the individuals concerned will not be reported.
The currently appointed Ombuds can be found on the Board and Committees page.
Board Examination
Welcome and congratulations to the new Diplomates of 2024!
The ECVS Exam 2025 will take place 9-11 February in Zurich, Switzerland.
Contact Information
Please direct all correspondence pertaining to exam queries at [email protected]. This will ensure that your message reaches the right person and can also be dealt with in case of personal absences.
Phone: +41 (0)44 635 84 92
Exam Documents and Application Process
The Examination Guide has been updated in September 2023 and is valid from the 2024 exam onwards.
Residents eligible to sit or re-sit the exam will be notified by the Office during autumn of the year preceding the exam and will receive a personal letter with detailed instructions how to sign up for the exam. For a complete exam registrations, candidates need to submit the online application (via 'your ECVS') and send a scan of the signed and dated confidentiality form to [email protected] by October 25th of the year preceding the exam.
The online application via 'Your ECVS' is only open to candidates who have been invited to sit the exam and will open at a defined time after release of the invitation letters. If you believe you should be able to apply for the exam, but cannot access the online registration, please contact [email protected].
Reading lists
from 2023 exam:
from 2024 exam:
Exam Preparation
Details and information about the ECVS exam, its individual parts, marking, exam preparation etc. are available from the ECVS Exam Preparation presentation. The ECVS certifying examination explanatory video gives detailed insights into the three parts of the exam, the exam preparation process and how the exam is marked.
Mock Exams
The mock exams present a selection of questions from all exam parts for preparation purposes. The Small Animal Case-based and Practical mock exams have last been updated in August 2022.
Please see here for instructions how to access the mock exams.
Model answers to the mock exam questions:
Small Animal Case-based Small Animal Practical Large Animal Case-based Large Animal Practical
Exam Schedule
The schedule of the 2025 exam will be communicated in due course.
Resident Committee
The ECVS Resident Committee has been established in 2023 and is the point of contact for residency-related dialogue. It shall be a voice representing the specific needs of the Residents, particularly with regards to providing representation to the greater ECVS community and to foster a closer relationship between Residents and the Board of Regents. The committee is a forum to discuss issues with training, process, wellbeing, communication and new initiatives to be suggested.
Contact Information
The Resident Committee can be reached at [email protected].Code of Conduct
The ECVS Code of Professional Conduct outlines our expectations of the professional standards of behaviour and clinical practice of our ECVS Diplomates and Residents. Our Residents as well as Diplomates are expected to behave with professional integrity and honesty and to be accountable for all aspects of their clinical practice and professional relationships with the teams they work with.