DVM Books: Semester-wise Textbook List for Pakistan (PVMC 2020)
DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) is a five-year, ten-semester degree in Pakistan. The PVMC-HEC revised curriculum (2020) names a textbook for each course, for example Koenig & Liebich for Anatomy, Cunningham for Physiology, Lehninger for Biochemistry and Tortora for Microbiology. This page lists the first-year books, points you to the rest, and shows free, legal ways to read them.
If you searched "DVM books" and found American vets and novels, you're in the right place. This page is for Pakistani students of veterinary and animal sciences. The books below come from the national curriculum drawn up by the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
One caution. PVMC says institutions can add up to 15 credit hours of their own courses. So treat this as the national baseline and check your department's course outline for changes.
How the DVM is organised
The scheme runs over ten semesters. Years 1-2 cover the basic sciences, and Years 3-5 move into clinics and production.
|
Year |
Semesters |
What you study |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
1-2 |
Anatomy, histology, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, livestock and poultry basics |
|
2 |
3-4 |
Nutrition, pharmacology, pathology, parasitology, immunology, bacteriology |
|
3 |
5-6 |
Virology, reproduction, internal medicine, zoonosis, diagnostic imaging |
|
4 |
7-8 |
Anaesthesia, biostatistics, small animal surgery, epidemiology, clinics |
|
5 |
9-10 |
Large animal surgery, poultry pathology, dairy technology, internship |
Year 1 books (Semesters 1-2)
Semester 1
|
Course |
PVMC textbook |
Also recommended |
|---|---|---|
|
Veterinary Anatomy-I |
Koenig & Liebich, Veterinary Anatomy of Domestic Animals: Textbook and Colour Atlas (7th ed.) |
Getty, The Anatomy of the Domestic Animals; Miller, Guide to the Dissection of the Dog |
|
General Veterinary Histology |
Eurell & Frappier, Dellmann's Textbook of Veterinary Histology (7th ed.) |
Bacha & Bacha, Color Atlas of Veterinary Histology; Qureshi & Chaudhry, Illustrated Veterinary Histology (Faisalabad) |
|
Veterinary Physiology-I |
Cunningham & Klein, Textbook of Veterinary Physiology (6th ed.) |
Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals; Guyton & Hall; Ganong |
|
Biochemistry |
Nelson & Cox, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry (8th ed.) |
Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry; Stryer; Voet & Voet |
|
Mathematics |
Aufmann & Nation, College Algebra and Trigonometry (8th ed.); Stewart, Calculus (8th ed.) |
Swokowski; Anton |
|
English-I |
Thomson & Martinet, Practical English Grammar |
Oxford Supplementary Skills series |
Semester 2
|
Course |
PVMC textbook |
Also recommended |
|---|---|---|
|
Veterinary Anatomy-II |
Koenig & Liebich (same book) |
Pasquini; Getty; Miller |
|
Systemic Histology & Embryology |
A colour atlas of veterinary histology (6th ed., as listed by PVMC) |
Aughey & Frye; Bacha & Bacha; Banks |
|
Veterinary Physiology-II |
Cunningham & Klein (same book) |
Jafri et al., Manual of Digestive Physiology (Lahore); Church, The Ruminant Animal |
|
General Veterinary Microbiology |
Tortora, Funke & Case, Microbiology: An Introduction (13th ed.) |
Quinn et al., Clinical Veterinary Microbiology; Rabbani & Muneer, Techniques in Virology (UVAS Press) |
|
Introduction to Poultry Production |
Sandilands & Hocking, Alternative Systems for Poultry |
Sreenivasaiah, Scientific Poultry Production |
|
Fundamentals of Livestock Production |
Banerjee, A Textbook of Animal Husbandry (8th ed.) |
Khan et al., Livestock Management Manual (Faisalabad); Mackintosh, Sheep Production in Pakistan |
The Anatomy-II entry cites an older printing of Koenig & Liebich than Anatomy-I does. Ask your anatomy teacher which edition they expect.
Year 2 and beyond (Semesters 3-10)
For Semester 3, PVMC's textbook for Principles of Animal Nutrition is Pond, Church & Pond, Basic Animal Nutrition and Feeding (5th ed.). For Pharmacology, Pathology, Parasitology, Immunology and every later course, the prescribed books are in the PVMC curriculum PDF, listed under each course outline: Revised DVM Curriculum 2020 (PVMC). Course titles and numbers are in its scheme of studies on pages 1-3.
Core references for clinical subjects
These are not the PVMC-prescribed list. They are titles that international veterinary schools and Pakistani booksellers commonly list for these subjects, so confirm with your course teacher before buying.
|
Subject |
Commonly used reference |
|---|---|
|
Pharmacology |
Riviere & Papich, Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (10th ed.); Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook |
|
Pathology |
Zachary, Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease (7th ed.) |
|
Parasitology |
Bowman, Georgis' Parasitology for Veterinarians (11th ed.); Zajac et al., Veterinary Clinical Parasitology (9th ed.) |
|
Virology |
MacLachlan et al., Fenner's Veterinary Virology (5th ed.) |
|
Epidemiology |
Thrusfield, Veterinary Epidemiology (4th ed.) |
|
Clinical pathology |
Fundamentals of Veterinary Clinical Pathology |
|
Diagnostic imaging |
Thrall, Textbook of Veterinary Diagnostic Radiology (7th ed.) |
|
Internal medicine |
Ettinger's Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine; Smith, Large Animal Internal Medicine (6th ed.); Radostits, Veterinary Medicine |
|
Surgery |
Veterinary Surgery: Small Animal (2nd ed.) |
Buying tips
Check with your teacher before buying a new edition. If you buy second-hand, make sure it is the right subject and a recent enough edition for your course. Share large reference books with classmates when you can.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does DVM stand for?
DVM stands for Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. In Pakistan it is a five-year, ten-semester degree regulated by the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC).
Which books are prescribed for the DVM in Pakistan?
The PVMC-HEC revised DVM curriculum (2020) names a textbook for each course. Examples are Koenig & Liebich for anatomy, Cunningham for physiology and Lehninger for biochemistry. Your university may adjust the list, so confirm with your department.
What are the first-year DVM books?
Anatomy uses Koenig & Liebich, histology uses Dellmann's, and physiology uses Cunningham's Textbook of Veterinary Physiology. Biochemistry uses Lehninger, and microbiology uses Tortora's Microbiology: An Introduction.
Can I download DVM books as free PDFs?
Only legally free ones, such as the Merck Veterinary Manual and the WOAH Terrestrial Manual. Most textbooks are copyrighted, so use your library or the HEC Digital Library through your university instead.
What is the HEC Digital Library?
It is an HEC programme that gives students and researchers at Pakistani universities access to e-books, journals and databases. You usually reach it through your university library or IT section.