Is ANZCVS Membership Worth It? What the Exam Really Involves

ANZCVS Membership is one of the most searched – and least clearly explained – postgraduate pathways in equine practice.

Many veterinarians quietly ask the same question: is ANZCVS Membership actually worth it? Worth the time. Worth the stress. Worth the sacrifice required alongside clinical work, callouts, and life outside the clinic.

This article gives a clear, experience-based answer – without hype, and without minimising the reality of the ANZCVS Membership exam.

If you’re wondering whether applying for and sitting ANZCVS Membership is something you should be doing – or whether you’re “ready” yet – you’re not alone. I’ve been in your shoes.

Balancing clients, emergencies, and responsibility, while quietly wondering whether the veterinarians sitting Membership exams had something I didn’t. More time. More brains. More support.

They didn’t.

What they did have was structure, mentorship, and a reason to back themselves – and that changes everything.

This article isn’t here to sugarcoat the process. It’s here to give you a straight answer.

Yes – ANZCVS Membership is worth it. Not because of the letters after your name, but because of what happens while you’re working toward them: clearer thinking, stronger clinical reasoning, and the confidence that comes from truly understanding what you’re doing – and why.

If you’re serious about growing in equine practice and tired of second-guessing yourself, this is for you.

Is ANZCVS Membership Worth It? (Quick Answer)

Yes – for veterinarians who want structured clinical growth, durable confidence, and professional credibility, ANZCVS Membership is worth it. Not because of the post-nominals, but because of how the preparation process changes clinical reasoning, decision-making, and case confidence.

This article is written by Dr Olivia James BVSc (Hons) MANZCVS (Equine Dentistry) DICEVO DAVDC, an ANZCVS Member by examination and internationally recognised equine veterinary dental specialist.

Dr James has prepared and mentored veterinarians for ANZCVS Membership for more than 13 years, supporting candidates across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, and Asia–Pacific.

Her perspective is grounded in lived experience – as a candidate, examiner, mentor, practice owner, and referral clinician – and reflects real outcomes from veterinarians preparing for Membership alongside full-time clinical work.

What is ANZCVS Membership and Why Does It Matter?

The Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) awards Membership as formal recognition that you’ve reached a higher standard of knowledge and skill than general practice in your chosen discipline.

It is not a specialist qualification, and it’s not just about passing an exam. Membership signals to your peers that you’ve done the work to understand, and apply what matters in practice.

Why it matters

• Builds durable clinical confidence
• Creates professional separation in a crowded field
• Expands career options (referral collaborations, teaching, leadership within Chapters)
• Improves decision-making for patients, which is the whole point

Many veterinarians treat ANZCVS Membership as a “nice to have” for some future, calmer year.

That thinking keeps people stuck. You don’t need to wait until you’re more experienced or “better”; you need to act like someone who wants to get better. Membership is how you show the profession, and yourself that you’re serious.

Where it fits in your career pathway
Membership sits between general practice and specialist training. Some veterinarians use it as a foundation for Fellowship or Diplomate pathways; many stop at Membership because it delivers the confidence, credibility, and clinical uplift they were seeking.

Note: The Equine Practice Company is not affiliated with or endorsed by ANZCVS. Always check the ANZCVS website for current requirements.

The Real Barrier Isn’t the Exam – It’s Going It Alone

Most veterinarians who consider ANZCVS Membership never apply. Not because they’re incapable, but because they don’t know where to start. And they assume life will be quieter next round. It won’t.

This pattern is one Dr Olivia James has seen repeatedly through her work as an ANZCVS examiner, former Dental Chapter President, and mentor to more than 40+ successful Membership candidates.

The real obstacle isn’t the content. It’s the isolation:

• Working late, staring at radiographs you’re not confident interpreting
• Wondering if everyone else just knows more
• Trying to stay motivated without a clear plan, accountability, or guidance
• Second-guessing whether you’re reading the right journal articles – and where to start

That’s what burns people out. Not the workload – the lack of structure.

Over the past 13 years, I’ve mentored more than 40 veterinarians from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Italy, Germany, Austria, Finland, Poland, Croatia, and more as they prepared for ANZCVS Membership in equine dentistry.

The ones who succeed aren’t the ones with the most time or the most experience; they’re the ones who commit to a plan and get support when they need it.

You don’t need to study for hours a day or take a year off work. You need a system that works alongside your life, not against it. A framework, a sounding board, and a clear way forward that doesn’t rely on willpower alone.

The structure and expectations described below reflect how ANZCVS Membership examinations are taught, examined, and assessed in practice.

They align with standards used in postgraduate equine education, referral-level clinical reasoning, and viva assessment frameworks taught by Dr Olivia James in advanced lameness and dentistry programs internationally.

What the ANZCVS Membership exams actually involve

Membership is a mid-tier postgraduate qualification. To be eligible to sit, you need to be at least three and a half years post-graduation by the June examination period – measured to the exam date itself, not the date you submit your application.

The ANZCVS membership exam format is straightforward. You’ll complete two written papers, typed online at an approved local venue (think a school or a lawyer’s office with an invigilator), and then sit a viva over Zoom with two panellists and an observer.

The College uses a clear pass standard: you need to achieve at least 70% overall, and you can’t fall below 50% in any individual paper or in the viva. There’s no travel required for most chapters now; the written components are supervised locally and the oral is virtual.

For equine dentistry specifically, there’s no logbook or practical case submission, though some other chapters do include a practical, so it’s always worth checking your chapter’s current guide.

What do these ANZCVS Membership exams really test?

Applied thinking.

ANZCVS Membership isn’t about memorising facts or performing at specialist level. It’s about demonstrating that you can integrate knowledge and apply it to real equine cases.

You’ll be asked to manage clinical scenarios, explain pathophysiology, and justify your decisions clearly – the same skills you use every day in practice, just with more structure and intention.

The breadth often surprises people, in a good way. Membership is deliberately designed to reflect real-world equine work, not a narrow niche.

You should expect questions that reach beyond “just teeth”, covering areas such as sedative pharmacology, diagnostic imaging, wound management, lameness investigation, and biosecurity principles that genuinely matter in everyday practice.

Importantly, the standard is very clear: ANZCVS Membership sits above general practice but below Fellowship. You are not being examined as a specialist.

You are being assessed on whether you can think logically, recognise common pathology, choose appropriate diagnostics, and make sound, defensible clinical decisions. That’s it.

In the viva, examiners aren’t trying to catch you out. Their role is to uncover what you do know and how you reason through a problem.

You’ll be presented with cases – often supported by radiographs, ultrasound images, or laboratory results – and asked to talk through your approach. The focus is on clarity of thinking, communication, and applied judgement, not perfection.

Even if you never sit the exam, the preparation alone changes how you practise. It sharpens your judgement, builds durable confidence, and improves the care your patients receive – because you stop guessing and start reasoning.

This mirrors exactly what Dr James experienced during her own Membership and Diplomate examinations, and what she now sees repeatedly in viva preparation with candidates.

What a virtual internship program can actually do for you

A good virtual internship is not a box-ticking exercise. It gives you structure, accountability, and momentum – so progress stops relying on late-night willpower and vague good intentions.

Week by week, you’re guided through the right literature and companion teaching, you practise writing answers in a format examiners can actually assess, and you learn to tighten your language so what you know is unmistakably clear on the page.

Live sessions for the ANZCVS Membership Internship start gently and ramp up as exams approach, with mock viva practice that puts you “in the hot seat” in a supportive, constructive environment. Sessions are scheduled across time zones so attendance is realistic, not aspirational.

The emphasis is always practical: interpreting radiographs, recognising pathology, and making – then defending – clinical plans. These are the areas most clinicians want to strengthen, and they’re exactly where consistent, guided practice delivers results.

You stay in your clinic, with your patients. But now you have a framework and a sounding board – so each week actually moves you forward.

What members actually do to prepare (and why it’s more achievable than you think)

You don’t need to disappear into a study cave for twelve months. What works is consistency.

Most successful candidates study two to four hours a week over nine to twelve months, then lift that to four to eight hours in the final eight to twelve weeks. If possible, they block a couple of dedicated study days in the final week to consolidate and sharpen.

The point isn’t volume – it’s direction. Random reading and fluorescent highlighters don’t translate into marks or better medicine. Applying what you read to real cases does. So does practising concise, structured written answers until that muscle memory returns.

If you’ve been putting ANZCVS Membership off because life is busy, you’re probably underestimating yourself. You don’t need more hours in the day. You need a plan that fits the life you already have.

What a virtual internship program can actually do for you

A good virtual internship is not a box-ticking exercise. It gives you structure, accountability and momentum – so progress stops relying on late-night willpower.

Week by week you’re guided through the right literature and companion lectures, you practise writing answers the way examiners can assess, and you learn to tighten your language so what you know is unmistakably clear.

Live sessions start gently and ramp up as exams approach, with mock viva practice that puts you “in the hot seat” in a supportive room. We schedule across time zones so you can actually attend.

The emphasis is practical: radiographic interpretation; recognising pathology; making and justifying plans. These are the areas most clinicians want to strengthen, and they’re exactly where consistent, guided practice pays off.

You stay in your clinic, with your patients, but now you have a framework and a sounding board – so each week moves you forward.

Any structured preparation that genuinely helps with ANZCVS Membership must align with the College’s published learning outcomes – integrated anatomy, diagnostic imaging interpretation, pharmacology, biosecurity, dentistry, and applied case management across body systems

When preparation mirrors those expectations, candidates don’t just pass exams – they become more confident, more systematic clinicians in everyday practice.

That’s the real return on investment.

What members actually do to prepare (and why it’s more achievable than you think)

You don’t need to disappear into a study cave for twelve months. What works is consistency. Most candidates do two to four hours a week across nine to twelve months, then lift that to four to eight hours in the final eight to twelve weeks.

If you can, block a couple of study days in the last week to consolidate. The point isn’t volume – it’s direction. Random reading and highlighter stripes don’t translate into marks or better medicine. Applying what you read to real cases does. So does practising concise, structured written answers until that muscle returns.

If you’ve been putting Membership off because life is busy, you’re probably underestimating yourself. You don’t need more hours in the day. You need a plan that fits the life you already have.

The biggest myths about ANZCVS Membership (and what’s actually true)

There’s plenty of noise about what it takes to sit Membership. Most of it isn’t helpful. Let’s clear a few things up in plain terms.

The first myth is that you only do Membership if you want to become a specialist. You don’t. Membership isn’t a specialist qualification; it sits between general practice and specialist training.

Some veterinarians do use it as a stepping stone toward Fellowship or a Diplomate path, but many stop at Membership because it gives them exactly what they were after – confidence, credibility, and better medicine.

Another common belief is that you need to quit your job or study full-time. You don’t. The vast majority of successful candidates are busy clinicians with families, after-hours rosters, and clinics to run. What gets them through isn’t spare time – it’s structure.

A third myth is that you’re “not ready yet.” If you’re reading this, you’re probably closer than you think. You don’t need to know everything before you begin. You need to decide it matters and work a plan that fits the life you already have.

There’s also the idea that ANZCVS Membership is just about passing an exam. It isn’t. Yes, there’s an assessment at the end, but the real transformation happens along the way – your clinical reasoning sharpens, your confidence grows, and your day-to-day decisions improve.

Finally, you do not need to be performing higher-level procedures before you sit. You don’t need to be extracting cheek teeth to be a good candidate. Interest, curiosity, and systematic preparation are enough.

In fact, the study often gives you both the theoretical knowledge and the confidence to progress to advanced procedures safely.

One last one while we’re here: examiners aren’t trying to trip you up in the viva. Their goal is to see how you think and to draw out what you do know. If you can explain your reasoning clearly, you’ll be fine.

If you’re serious about equine practice, this is the next step

ANZCVS Membership isn’t for everyone. But if you want to be better at what you do – not just busier – this is the step that moves you forward.

Not in theory. In practice.

It changes how you think about cases. It helps you make decisions with more confidence and less second-guessing. It opens doors to referral work, teaching, and professional roles that aren’t available to everyone. And it shows your clients, your colleagues, and – most importantly – yourself that you’re committed to high standards.

You don’t need to be the smartest in the room. You need to stop waiting for someone to tell you you’re ready. No one is going to tap you on the shoulder and say, “Now’s the time.” That part is up to you.

If you’re tired of wondering what’s next in your career, back yourself. Explore what structured support could look like. Talk to someone who’s done it. Give yourself a real chance to reach that next level.

No more waiting for permission

You don’t need anyone’s approval to take your career seriously. Not your boss, not your clients, and not the voice in your head telling you to wait a bit longer.

The veterinarians who sit ANZCVS Membership aren’t superhuman. They’re not born with more time, more brains, or better luck. They decide, and they start.

The sooner you step toward it, the sooner everything shifts – your confidence, your clinical ability, and the opportunities available to you.

If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, that’s your sign. If you’ve been putting it off because you’re unsure where to start, we can help.

The Equine Practice Company’s Virtual Internship in Equine Dentistry was built for exactly this: to give equine veterinarians the support, clarity, and confidence to stop circling and start moving forward.

You don’t have to commit to ANZCVS Membership today. But you do have to stop pretending it isn’t important to you. Perhaps it’s time to give yourself the gift of improvement.

Take the next step, and back yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions about ANZCVS Membership

What is ANZCVS Membership?
ANZCVS Membership is formal postgraduate recognition awarded by the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists, indicating competence above general practice in a defined discipline. It is not a specialist qualification, but successful candidates may use the post-nominals MANZCVS.

Is ANZCVS Membership worth it?

Yes. Based on more than a decade of mentoring veterinarians through ANZCVS Membership, it is worth it for veterinarians seeking structured clinical development, stronger diagnostic reasoning, and professional credibility. The greatest benefit comes from the preparation process, which improves confidence and decision-making in everyday practice.

What does the ANZCVS Membership exam involve?

The ANZCVS Membership exam consists of two written papers completed under supervision at a local venue, followed by an oral viva conducted online. Candidates must achieve at least 70% overall and not fall below 50% in any component.

How hard is the ANZCVS Membership exam?

The ANZCVS Membership exam is challenging but fair. It assesses applied clinical reasoning rather than specialist-level procedures or rote memorisation. Candidates are examined on their ability to interpret information, justify decisions, and manage realistic clinical scenarios.

How much study time is needed for ANZCVS Membership?

Most successful candidates study two to four hours per week for nine to twelve months, increasing to four to eight hours per week in the final two to three months before the exam.

Is ANZCVS Membership the same as becoming a specialist?

No. ANZCVS Membership is not a specialist qualification. It sits between general practice and Fellowship or Diplomate training and is designed to recognise advanced competence rather than specialist registration.

Do I need to be performing advanced procedures before sitting ANZCVS Membership?

No. ANZCVS Membership assesses competence in commonly encountered clinical cases. Advanced surgical or specialist-level procedures fall outside the intended scope of the examination.

What does MANZCVS mean?

MANZCVS stands for Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and may be used after successfully passing the ANZCVS Membership examination.

Can international veterinarians apply for ANZCVS Membership?

Yes. International veterinarians may apply if they meet eligibility requirements, provide appropriate documentation, and obtain support from an ANZCVS Member registered in Australia or New Zealand. Approval is at the discretion of the College Council.

Who can apply for Membership?

You’ll need a veterinary degree eligible for registration in Australia or New Zealand and to be at least three and a half years post-graduation by the June examination period. This doesn’t have to be in a referral setting. If you’ve had limited mentorship or structured training, allow yourself more preparation time.

I’m excited to confirm applications for the 2028 examinations are open. What are the key dates?

Applications open 1 August 2027 and close 31 October 2027, with payment due on submission. Late applications are accepted 1–30 November 2027 with a late fee. Full details and the application portal are on the ANZCVS website.

How do the ANZCVS Membership exams run?

There are two written papers, typed online at an approved local venue (often a school or lawyer’s office), followed by a viva conducted over Zoom with two panellists and an observer. You need at least 70% overall, and you can’t fall below 50% in any individual paper or in the viva. A small annual fee maintains your post-nominals.

Who can sit (and how do approvals work)?

You must be eligible for veterinary registration in Australia or New Zealand and meet the 3.5-year post-graduation requirement by June. International graduates can apply by providing a CV with relevant dentistry training, a support letter from an ANZCVS Member registered in AU/NZ, and a certified copy of your degree. Approvals are at the discretion of the College Council. Membership does not grant the right to practise in AU/NZ; that is a separate licensure process.

How much time should I expect to study?

Most candidates set aside two to four hours a week for nine to twelve months, then lift that to four to eight hours in the final couple of months. A structured plan, a small study group, and a mentor make a big difference. If you can, keep a couple of full study days clear in the week before the exams.

How much does it cost?

Fees vary year to year, but as a guide, the ANZCVS Membership exams fees typically fall in the AU$1,500–$2,000 range, with a modest late application fee if you miss the main window. There’s no fee to lodge an “Intention to Sit.”

What subjects can I sit for?

There are more than thirty ANZCVS Membership subjects across clinical, research, and public health areas. Popular choices include Equine, Surgery, Dentistry, Anaesthesia, Oncology, and Emergency & Critical Care. Check the ANZCVS website for the current list.

What happens after I pass?

You become a Member of the College and can use MANZCVS. You’ll also join a community of advanced practitioners and can contribute to your Chapter through mentoring, examining, and leadership roles.

Is this the same as becoming a specialist?

No. Membership is not a specialist qualification. If you want to register as a veterinary specialist you’d pursue Fellowship or a Diplomate pathway. Many veterinarians stop at Membership because it delivers the professional uplift they were seeking.

What are the examination dates for 2028?

Written papers are scheduled for June 2028 (Paper 1 in the morning, Paper 2 in the afternoon). Oral examinations will be late June 2028 and are held virtually. Equine dentistry Membership examinations are currently offered every two years. Always confirm dates and requirements on the ANZCVS website.

Do I have to travel?

No. Written examinations for membership are supervised locally at an approved venue, and the viva is conducted online.

Do I have to be performing higher-level procedures before I sit?

No. ANZCVS Membership explicitly assesses competence in routine and commonly encountered equine procedures, with advanced surgical or specialist-level techniques falling outside its intended scope.

Who is best placed to mentor ANZCVS Membership candidates?

Veterinarians like Dr. Olivia James who have completed Membership by examination, actively practise in the discipline, and have experience examining or mentoring candidates. This combination ensures guidance is aligned with both College expectations and real-world clinical standards.