ACVIM: Small Animal

Candidates are advised to prepare for the examination by a systematic review of recent textbooks and periodicals. Your mentors can help you select appropriate study material. WE CANNOT DEFINE CONCLUSIVELY THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO PASS THIS EXAMINATION – the following list is ONLY A GUIDELINE. Please note that although the emphasis of the examination is on recently published literature, there are not set years that absolutely define which references are used for question preparation:

Books (most recent editions)

  • Textbook of veterinary internal medicine, 7th ed. edited by SJ Ettinger (2010), available online, password kept in TUSK
  • Kirk’s current veterinary therapy, volumes XIII, XIV, XV (latest ed.) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 607 CU823; XV (2014) companion website available online, password kept in TUSK
  • Canine and feline endocrinology and reproduction, 3rd ed. edited by EC Feldman and RW Nelson (2004) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 768.3 F312c 2004
  • Clinical Pathology
    • Small animal clinical diagnosis by laboratory methods, 5th ed. edited by MD Willard (2012), available online
    • Fundamentals of veterinary clinical pathology, 2nd ed. edited by S Stockham (2008) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 772.6 S864f 2008
  • Small Animal Gastroenterology (numerous)
    • Small animal gastroenterology, 3rd ed. edited by DR Strombeck (1996) — Vet Reserve and Book Stacks SF 851 S921sa 1996
    • Small animal gastroenterology edited by JM Steiner (2008) — Vet Book Stacks SF 851 S63 2008
    • Small animal gastroenterology by M Chandler (2011) — Vet Book Stacks SF 851 C43 2011
  • Medical Physiology
    • Ganong’s Review of medical physiology, 24th ed. edited by KE Barrett (2012), available online
    • Guyton and Hall Textbook of medical physiology, 12th ed. edited by JE Hall (2011), available online
  • Fluid Therapy
    • Clinical physiology of acid base and electrolyte disorders, 5th ed. (2001) — Not at Tufts
    • Fluid, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice, 4th ed., edited by SP DiBartola (2012), available online
  • Respiratory physiology: the essentials by JB West — Veterinary Library has 7th ed. (2005) Vet Reserve Stacks WF 102 W518r 2005; current ed. is 9th (2012)
  • Pulmonary pathophysiology: the essentials by JB West — Veterinary Library has 6th ed. (2003) Vet Reserve Stacks WF 600 W514p 2003; current ed. is 8th (2012)
  • Textbook of respiratory disease in dogs and cats by LG King (2004) — Vet Reserve and Book Stacks SF 992 R47 K53t 2004
  • Immunology
    • Veterinary clinical immunology by REW Halliwell (1989) — not at Tufts
    • Roitt’s essential immunology, 12th ed. edited by PJ Delves (2011), available online
    • Veterinary immunology: an introduction, 9th ed. by I Tizard (2013) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 757.2 T625i 2013
  • Neurology
    • Veterinary neuroanatomy and clinical neurology, 3rd ed. by A de Lahunta and E Glass (2009), available online
    • Handbook of veterinary neurology, 5th ed. by MD Lorenz (2011), available online, companion website
    • Neurology for the small animal practitioner by CL Chrisman (2003) — Vet Book Stacks SF 895 N4946 2003
  • Cardiology/ECG
    • Manual of canine and feline cardiology, 4th ed. edited by LP Tilley (2008), available online
    • Textbook of canine and feline cardiology: principles and clinical practice, 2nd ed. edited by PR Fox (1999) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 992 C37 T355 1999
  • Small animal clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, 2nd ed. edited by DM Boothe (2012) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 915 B725s 2012
  • Infectious diseases of the dog and cat, 4th ed. edited by CE Greene (2012) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 991 G743i 2012
  • Feline
    • Consultations in feline internal medicine 6 edited by JR August (2010) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 985 C758 2010
    • Saunders manual of small animal practice, 3rd ed. edited by SJ Birchard and RG Sherding (2006) — Vet Reserve Stacks  SF 981 S257 2006
  • Oncology
    • Cancer in dogs and cats: medical and surgical management, 2nd ed. by WB Morrison (2002) — Vet Reserve Stacks  SF 910 T8 M583c 2002
    • Withrow and MacEwen’s small animal clinical oncology, 5th ed. edited by SJ Withrow (2013) — Vet Reserve Stacks  SF 910 T8 S634 2013

Questions covering material published in human literature have been used on this exam. The committee suggests, however, that you limit your review of the human literature to two areas: 1) general concepts in physiology/pathophysiology, and 2) major review articles found in the New England Journal of Medicine. Material unique to human medicine will not be used.

This list is based on the 2014 reading list. This page was last updated May 2014.