Improve achieves accreditation for a second certificate with the new, streamlined route towards RCVS Advanced Practitioner status.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has approved the ISVPS General Practitioner Certificate Advanced Practitioner Route (GPCert (APR)) in Small Animal Medicine under its new postgraduate accreditation framework.
The approval means that eligible veterinary surgeons successfully completing the certificate and the required assessments can use the qualification when applying for RCVS Advanced Practitioner status.
Small Animal Medicine becomes the second Improve Veterinary Education certificate to gain approval under the RCVS’s revised framework, following the accreditation of the ISVPS GPCert (APR) in Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery earlier this year. Following the same review process, ISVPS and Improve Veterinary Education worked with the RCVS, submitting their programme for assessment against robust criteria to secure eligibility for Advanced Practitioner applications.
Improve’s 12-month Small Animal Medicine Online Certificate has been redesigned around the realities of everyday veterinary practice.
Rather than approaching internal medicine primarily by body system, the course starts with the clinical signs vets encounter in practice. It uses a problem-oriented approach to build differential diagnoses, select appropriate investigations, and develop treatment and monitoring plans.
The programme consists of 13 online modules, with three optional practical modules. It incorporates active-learning activities designed to strengthen clinical reasoning, diagnostic confidence, and decision-making.
These include Error Management Training, Reverse Engineering of Clinical Cases, Clinical Debate, Visual Analysis, and Structured Decision-Making Tools, together with Personalised Expert Mentorship.
Aidan McAlinden, Academic and Content Director at Improve Veterinary Education, said:
“Achieving RCVS approval for Small Animal Medicine is an important next step for us and, more importantly, for veterinary surgeons looking for a clear and relevant route to progress their careers.
“When we redesigned this programme, we wanted to move beyond simply delivering more clinical knowledge. Medicine in practice is about interpreting sometimes incomplete information, managing uncertainty and making good decisions for the patient in front of you.
“The programme has therefore been built around the way clinicians actually encounter cases in practice, developing not only their medical knowledge but their clinical reasoning, communication and decision-making skills. We are delighted that this approach has now been recognised within the RCVS Advanced Practitioner framework.”
The Small Animal Medicine programme leads to the internationally recognised ISVPS General Practitioner Certificate and has been designed to enable participants to continue working in practice while completing their postgraduate studies.
Charlotte French, Head of Academic Affairs at ISVPS, said:
“The approval of the Small Animal Medicine GPCert Advanced Practitioner Route is another important milestone for ISVPS and for veterinary professionals seeking recognised progression within general practice.
“The RCVS accreditation process provides rigorous external scrutiny of both programme content and assessment. We are pleased to see a second ISVPS qualification successfully approved under the new framework and will continue working through the review process for our other eligible qualifications.”
The RCVS introduced its revised accreditation process for postgraduate qualifications leading to Advanced Practitioner eligibility in 2025. Improve Veterinary Education and ISVPS have since been working through the review process for their eligible programmes.
The Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery GPCert (APR) became the first ISVPS qualification to receive approval under the framework in May 2026.
The approval of Small Animal Medicine now extends that pathway into one of the most widely applicable areas of companion animal clinical practice.
Find out more about the GPCert/PgC Small Animal Medicine certificate