This guide contains the list of books and journals recommended as study materials for the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC) examination.
Residents are responsible for ensuring they are using the correct edition of a book for their exam.
Please ask your librarian, mentor, or specialty board examination committee if questions arise.
From the ACVECC Knowledge List 2020:
"The following list of references contain the material that residents/fellows are expected to learn with retention and comprehension during their training. To facilitate this, a recent edition of appropriate resources from each section must be provided on-site at each Residency Training Facility. Computer access to the common veterinary and human medical databases must also be available on-site at each Residency Training Facility.
"Large Animal Candidates sitting the examination in September 2020 are responsible for journal articles from the calendar year 2015-2019, and book titles published during or before 2019, and the Large Animal Additional article list.
"Small Animal Candidates sitting the examination in September 2020 are responsible for journal articles from calendar years 2017-2019, and book titles published during or before 2019, and the Small Animal Additional article list.
"Both Large Animal (LA) and Small Animal (SA) candidates sitting the General MCQ examination in September 2020 are responsible for journal articles from calendar years 2017-2019, and the journal articles that appear in both the Small Animal and Large Animal additional article lists.
"Please note that expected knowledge is duplicated in many of these references: it is not necessary or expected that residents will be familiar with every text listed. However, several suitable texts are listed to ensure that residents have access to all pertinent information. For each knowledge category in the Required Reading List, at least one edition of a textbook that covers the appropriate species of interest and is published within the last 10 years should be available for study and reference.
"The [Supplemental Reading List contains] reading materials that can also be reviewed in these topic areas for the species of interest."
Source: ACVECC Recommended Reading Lists, American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
This resource updated: 06/07/2023
Source reading list updated: 2021
"Articles germane to the field of veterinary emergency and critical care for the appropriate species should be reviewed from the following journals:"
"This list contains articles 3-10 years old from core journals and articles within the last 10 years from non-core journals and is designed to bridge a perceived gap in the recommended reading between recent journal articles, non-core journals and textbooks. It contains article the committee deems likely to inform and impact the practice of veterinary ECC. We aim to keep this list to <100 articles and will review and update it annually."
"Please also be aware that while the majority of the questions on the examination will be based on literature from the additional article list and the recommended reading list some questions may reference other appropriate sources pertinent to our specialty."
"This list contains articles 3-10 years old from core journals and articles within the last 10 years from non-core journals and is designed to bridge a perceived gap in the recommended reading between recent journal articles, non-core journals and textbooks. It contains article the committee deems likely to inform and impact the practice of veterinary ECC. We aim to keep this list to <100 articles and will review and update it annually. Large animal candidates should appreciate that the majority of these articles are non-species specific and shared with small animal candidates. This means they can be used for questions on the multiple-choice exam."
"Please also be aware that while the majority of the questions on the examination will be based on literature from the additional article list and the recommended reading list some questions may reference other appropriate sources pertinent to our specialty."
LA= Large Animal, SA= Small Animal, LA/SA= All Species, Human= Human Beings
Equine Anesthesia: Monitoring and Emergency Therapy by 
Handbook of Veterinary Anesthesia by 
Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia by 
Veterinary Anesthetic and Monitoring Equipment by 
Cardiovascular Disease in Small Animal Medicine by 
Cardiology of the Horse by 
Manual of Canine and Feline Cardiology by 
Duncan and Prasse's Veterinary Laboratory Medicine: Clinical Pathology by 
Fundamentals of Veterinary Clinical Pathology by 
Small Animal Clinical Diagnosis by Laboratory Methods by 
Marino's The ICU Book by 
Critical Care Medicine: Principles of Diagnosis and Management of the Adult by 
Textbook of Critical Care by 
The Equine Hospital Manual by 
Equine Emergency and Critical Care Medicine by 
Equine Emergencies: Treatment and Procedures by 
Advanced Monitoring and Procedures for Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care by 
Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Procedures by 
Manual of Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Medicine by 
Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Manual by 
Small Animal Critical Care Medicine by 
Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Physiology by 
Clinical Physiology of Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders by 
Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice by 
Manual of Veterinary Transfusion Medicine and Blood Banking by 
Textbook of Veterinary Diagnostic Radiology by 
Focused Ultrasound Techniques for the Small Animal Practitioner by 
Equine Infectious Diseases by 
Infectious Diseases of the Horse by 
Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat by 
Equine Internal Medicine by 
Large Animal Internal Medicine by 
Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine Expert Consult by 
Clinical Canine and Feline Respiratory Medicine by 
Textbook of Respiratory Disease in Dogs and Cats by 
Canine and Feline Gastroenterology by 
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Endocrinology by 
Robinson's Current Therapy in Equine Medicine by 
Essentials of Mechanical Ventilation by 
Pilbeam's Mechanical Ventilation: Physiological and Clinical Applications by 
Principles and Practice of Mechanical Ventilation by 
Ganong's Review of Medical Physiology by 
Medical Physiology by 
Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology by 
Berne and Levy Physiology by 
Cunningham's Textbook of Veterinary Physiology by 
Equine Neurology by 
Veterinary Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology by 
Handbook of Veterinary Neurology by 
Practical Guide to Canine and Feline Neurology by 
Small Animal Neurological Emergencies by 
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Neurology, (with DVD-ROM) by 
Nutritional Management of Hospitalized Small Animals by 
Withrow and MacEwen's Small Animal Clinical Oncology by 
Essentials of Veterinary Ophthalmology by 
Slatter's Fundamentals of Veterinary Ophthalmology by 
Equine Ophthalmology by 
Small Animal Pediatrics by 
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Reproduction and Neonatology by 
Canine Reproduction and Neonatology by 
Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics by 
Small Animal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics by 
Small Animal Clinical Pharmacology by 
Equine Surgery by 
Small Animal Surgery by 
Veterinary Surgery: Small Animal Expert Consult by 
Veterinary Toxicology: Basic and Clinical Principles by 
Clinical Veterinary Toxicology by 
Small Animal Toxicology by LA= Large Animal, SA=Small Animal, LA/SA=All Species, Human=Human Beings
Handbook of Veterinary Pain Management by 
Small Animal Anesthesia Techniques by 
Small Animal Regional Anesthesia and Analgesia by 
Veterinary Anaesthesia: Principles to Practice by 
Canine and Feline Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease by 
Cardiovascular Physiology, Ninth Edition by 
Small Animal ECGs: An Introductory Guide by 
ECG Interpretation in the Critically Ill Dog and Cat by 
Hemostasis and Thrombosis: Basic Principles and Clinical Practice by Small Animal Critical Care Medicine by 
Critical Care: Quick Look Series by 
Handbook of Canine and Feline Emergency Protocols by 
Plumer's Principles and Practice of Infusion Therapy by 
Atlas of Small Animal Ultrasonography by 
Antimicrobial Therapy in Veterinary Medicine by 
Vander's Renal Physiology by 
Renal Physiology by 
Renal Pathophysiology: The Essentials by 
Brenner and Rector's the Kidney by 
Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XIV by 
Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XV by 
Saunders Solutions in Veterinary Practice: Small Animal Gastroenterology by 
Small Animal Gastroenterology by BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Endocrinology by 
Management of the Mechanically Ventilated Patient by 
Rapid Interpretation of Ventilator Waveforms by 
Nunn and Lumb's Applied Respiratory Physiology by 
Review of Veterinary Physiology by 
De Lahunta's Veterinary Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology by 
Fundamentals of Veterinary Clinical Neurology by 
Opie's Cardiovascular Drugs: a Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease by 
Equine Clinical Pharmacology by 
Textbook of Small Animal Surgery by 
Complications in Small Animal Surgery by 
