The dual DVM/MPH degree at the University of Wisconsin--Madison: a uniquely interdisciplinary collaboration

The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) launched a new Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program in 2005. This 42-credit MPH degree consists of 18 core and 14 elective course credits, two seminar credits, and eight field project/culminating experience credits. Unique strengths of the program include its strongly interdisciplinary philosophy, encompassing both health science (human medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing) and social science units on campus, and its emphasis on service learning through instructional and field project ties to the public-health community of the state and beyond. To date, the program has admitted 87 students, including full-time students as well as part-time students who continue to work in the health care and/or public-health sectors. The program is currently proceeding with the process for accreditation through the Council for Education in Public Health. In 2007, a formal dual DVM/MPH program was approved to allow students to integrate DVM and MPH training and complete both degrees in a total of five years. Nine MPH students over the first three years of admissions have been individuals affiliated with veterinary medicine (five DVM students and four post-graduate veterinarians).     

A flexible approach to training veterinarians in public health: an overview and early assessment of the DVM/MPH dual-degree program at the University of Minnesota

As a result of the growing need for public-health veterinarians, novel educational programs are essential to train future public-health professionals. The University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine, initiated a dual DVM/MPH program in 2002. This program provides flexibility by combining distance learning and on-campus courses offered through a summer public-health institute. MPH requirements are completed through core courses, elective courses in a focus area, and an MPH project and field experience. Currently, more than 100 students representing 13 veterinary schools are enrolled in the program. The majority of initial program graduates have pursued public-practice careers upon completion of the program. Strengths of the Minnesota program design include accessibility and an environment to support multidisciplinary training. Continued assessment of program graduates will allow for evaluation and adjustment of the program in the coming years.     

Public health education at Michigan State University

Many reports have highlighted the need for the veterinary profession to fill critical shortages of veterinarians in public health and food safety. Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine offers educational programs within the professional veterinary curriculum, as well as graduate degree programs, to meet these societal needs. Within the scope of the professional veterinary curriculum, educational opportunities in public health include clerkships in veterinary public health and an innovative Web-based curriculum on judicious use of antimicrobials. For graduate degree programs, Michigan State University has a memorandum of understanding with the University of Minnesota for the Master of Public Health degree and an innovative Online Professional Master of Science in Food Safety degree program. A new option available is the opportunity for veterinary students to pursue the Master of Science in Food Safety concurrently with the DVM (DVM/MS in Food Safety). These educational programs will prepare graduates to meet societal needs in public health and food safety.     

A new approach to teaching veterinary public health at the Ohio State University

Public-health practitioners with expertise in the area of veterinary public health are expected to understand the prevention and control of zoonotic infectious diseases in both human and animal populations. This focus on multiple species is what makes the veterinary public health (VPH) official unique. The development of a new VPH specialization within the existing Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program at the Ohio State University represents a significant new collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Public Health. The main objective of the VPH specialization is to educate and train professionals to provide them with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to protect and improve human health using a One Medicine approach. The program targets a population of students who will likely enter the professional veterinary medicine curriculum but have one year available to enhance their preparatory training in health sciences before beginning the program. A core series of VPH courses was initiated to complement the existing MPH course requirements. The program has been successful in attracting students from the primary target population, but it has also attracted students wanting the MPH as a terminal degree and veterinarians returning to school to expand their career options.     

Public-health instruction necessary to supplement the veterinary professional curriculum: the DVM/MPH coordinated-degree program at Auburn University

To meet long-term needs, many veterinary colleges and schools are participating in dual-degree DVM/MPH programs. Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have developed a coordinated-degree curriculum in which the DVM and the MPH are not necessarily awarded simultaneously. Other opportunities at Auburn include Public Health Careers Day, trips to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several elective courses related to veterinary epidemiology, and online access to the Emerging and Exotic Diseases of Animals course available from the Veterinary Information Network. We have been able to increase our students' exposure to the role of the veterinarian in public health and to develop a program to augment their training in public practice.     

Joint degree programs in public health

Public health and veterinary medicine share a focus on population health and primary prevention, along with a commitment to preparedness, response, and recovery in the event of disease outbreaks. Public-health and veterinary professional degree programs share commonalities in their educational accreditation requirements related to epidemiology and public-health practice. The initiation of a number of joint professional degree programs over the last five years, including the joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health (DVM/MPH), represents an exciting development for inter-professional education for veterinarians interested in public health. Various models for joint DVM/MPH educational programs are discussed, including pre-veterinary public-health credentialing, integrated programs, and post-DVM executive programs. Collaborations between colleges of veterinary medicine and schools of public health show great promise in both educational and research innovation.     

Linking veterinary and human public-health education: collaborations at the University Of Tennessee

The increasing demand for veterinarians in public health has created an environment for innovative educational approaches, providing opportunities for veterinary students to gain additional education in public health. At the University of Tennessee, this environment has enabled a collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences to establish a veterinary concentration in an existing Master of Public Health degree program. The veterinary public-health concentration was approved in 2004. In addition, other courses and initiatives have been developed at the College of Veterinary Medicine, creating stronger collaborations with academic units and public-health professionals.     

Public-health education at Kansas State University

What are veterinary medical and public-health professionals doing to remedy the immediate and impending shortages of veterinarians in population health and public practice? This question was addressed at the joint symposium of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and the Association of Schools of Public Health, held in April 2007. Thinking locally, faculty and students at Kansas State University (KSU) asked similar questions after attending the symposium: What are we doing within the College of Veterinary Medicine to tackle this problem? What can we do better with new collaborators? Both the professional veterinary curriculum and the Master of Public Health (MPH) at KSU provide exceptional opportunities to address these questions. Students are exposed to public health as a possible career choice early in veterinary school, and this exposure is repeated several times in different venues throughout their professional education. Students also have opportunities to pursue interests in population medicine and public health through certificate programs, summer research programs, study abroad, and collaborations with contributing organizations unique to KSU, such as its Food Science Institute, National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, and Biosecurity Research Institute. Moreover, students may take advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of public-health education at KSU, where collaborations with several different colleges and departments within the university have been established. We are pleased to be able to offer these opportunities to our students and hope that our experience may be instructive for the development of similar programs at other institutions, to the eventual benefit of the profession at large.     

One medicine, one university: the DVM/MPH program at the University of Illinois

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine (UIUC-CVM) and the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health (UIC-SPH) are in the fourth year of a collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health dual-degree program. The two campuses, one urban and one rural, are 150 miles apart but are sister schools within the University of Illinois system. This article describes the origin of the program, how the program functions across two campuses, its academic focus, required coursework, and research projects designed to fulfill the program's capstone requirements. The article shows how two campuses can be linked through a combination of online and on-site didactic coursework, briefly describes innovative proposals for projects within the United States and abroad, and highlights faculty committed to educating cross-trained public-health professionals while addressing the national need for veterinarians trained in public health. The authors also discuss how the dual-degree program has led to the formation of the Illinois Center for One Medicine, One Health (ICOMOH), an intra-university collaboration focusing on the interface of human, animal, and ecosystem health.     

International cooperation in veterinary public health curricula using web-based distance interactive education

The expanding field of Veterinary Public Health places new demands on the knowledge and skills of veterinarians. Veterinary curricula must therefore adapt to this new profile. Through the introduction of case studies dealing with up-to-date issues, students are being trained to solve (real-life) problems and come up with realistic solutions. At the Department of Public Health and Food Safety of the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, positive experiences have resulted from the new opportunities offered by the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. The possibility of creating a virtual classroom on the Internet through the use of WebCT software has enabled teachers and students to tackle emerging issues by working together with students in other countries and across disciplines. This article presents some of these experiences, through which international exchange of ideas and realities were stimulated, in addition to consolidating relations between universities in different countries. Long-distance education methodologies provide an important tool to achieve the increasing need for international cooperation in Veterinary Public Health curricula.     

Public health education at the University of California, Davis: past, present, and future programs

This article reviews the history of public-health education at the University of California, Davis, from the inception of the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine Program in the School of Veterinary Medicine through the creation of the Master of Public Health Program offered jointly by the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The long history of collaborative teaching and research between the schools, as well as the university's close proximity to and relationship with numerous university-affiliated and state public-health agencies, has created remarkable opportunities for novel and creative public-health education. The university is already anticipating the approval of a School of Public Health on its campus, which will create even more educational opportunities in both human and veterinary public-health disciplines. Given the projected shortfall of veterinarians entering such fields, the opportunity of a novel Doctor of Public Health degree program specifically suited to the needs of veterinary medicine is also discussed as a means of addressing this shortage.     

Veterinary medicine educational requirements to meet the needs of the US Agency for International Development

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) works within the overall purpose of US foreign assistance to improve the lives of the citizens of the developing world. Through partnerships with other agencies, organizations, and governments, and using its field offices around the world, USAID strives to develop local capacity and thus build sustainable development. Two specific USAID programs pertinent to veterinary medicine are global health and agriculture. In the area of global health, veterinarians can aid USAID's work to improve the quality, availability, and use of essential health services that specifically target maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, family planning and reproductive health, infectious diseases, environmental health, nutrition, and other life-saving areas. The challenge of making the agricultural sector in a developing country more productive is a critical one for USAID and a clear area for input from the veterinary profession. Animal agriculture is the largest single sector of agricultural economies in most developing countries, and livestock remains a critical component of poverty alleviation. There are educational requirements that benefit anyone working at USAID and can be met prior to admittance to a DVM program, as part of a DVM curriculum, or in post-graduate training/employment, such as proficiency in a foreign language; environmental sciences background; familiarity with accounting and management techniques; expertise in foreign animal diseases, zoonotic diseases, epidemiology, food safety, and nutrition, as well as the application to human health of those areas; an advanced degree such as an MPH; and management experience. Appropriately trained veterinarians can make enormous contributions to USAID's global efforts to improve the health and agriculture sectors of developing nations.     

Veterinarians and public health: the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1951-2002

Public health affords important and exciting career opportunities for veterinarians. The Epidemic Intelligence Service Program (EIS) of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) is a two-year post-graduate program of service and on-the-job training for health professionals, including veterinarians, who are interested in careers in epidemiology and public health. EIS serves as a major point of entry into the public health arena. Veterinarians applying to the program must have a Master of Public Health or equivalent degree, or demonstrated public health experience or course work. EIS officers are assigned to positions at CDC headquarters or in state and local health departments. During two-year assignments, they are trained in applied epidemiology, biostatistics, conducting outbreak investigations, emergency preparedness and response, and scientific communications. They conduct epidemiologic outbreak and other investigations, perform applied research and public health surveillance, serve the epidemiologic needs of state health departments, present at scientific and medical conferences, publish in the scientific literature, and disseminate vital public health information to the media and the public. EIS officers apply their training and skills to actual public health problems and issues, establish mentorships with recognized experts from CDC and other national and international health agencies, and travel domestically and internationally. Since 1951, 195 veterinarians have graduated from the program and gone on to make substantial contributions to public health in positions with federal, state, or local governments, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations.     

Outcomes assessment in veterinary medical education

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) agreed to perform outcomes assessment (OA) as part of the accreditation review process for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Nine OA instruments were developed and validated by a 20-member accreditation committee. The instruments were also pre-tested by a subset of the target population. The instruments were for alumni one to five years post-graduate, alumni 6-15 years post-graduate, faculty, staff, DVM students, employers of veterinarians, referring veterinarians using the Blacksburg campus, and referring veterinarians using the Leesburg campus. In addition, data were used from OA surveys previously done for the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Data from the surveys were incorporated into each of the 11 Essentials for Accreditation required by the AVMA. The process of OA provided a comprehensive assessment of the many aspects of the operation of the college. An important follow-up to the OA process is use of data to enhance and/or re-prioritize existing programs.     

Experiences and difficulties encountered during a course on veterinary public health with students of different nationalities

Veterinary public health (VPH) issues have received increased attention over the last few years as a result of the rising threat of emerging zoonoses (i.e., those due to globalized trade in animal and animal products and to changes in livestock production systems and the environment). The international dimension of VPH is gradually becoming recognized, and there is a growing need for veterinarians with experience in this field. In order to familiarize (future) veterinarians with the international dimension of VPH, the Department of Public Health and Food Safety of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, has been organizing a course in Veterinary Public Health and Animal Production for over the last 10 years. This course has been intended for Dutch as well as foreign final-year veterinary students and recent veterinary graduates. By bringing together participants from different countries, the course reinforces the international dimension of the issues addressed through the exchange of experiences by the participants themselves. The present article provides information about this course on Veterinary Public Health (VPH): it discusses logistics, didactical approaches, the course program, and the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Special attention is given to the intercultural aspects of higher education, all of which play an important role in the efficient exchange of knowledge between lecturers and students. International courses are an important tool to enable participants to interact in a multicultural environment and address issues that demand international cooperation and a global public health focus.     

Resident and graduate training in veterinary nutrition

Training programs for veterinarians seeking board certification by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) are structured in one of two ways: (1) as programs similar to specialty training in other clinical disciplines or (2) as graduate programs leading to advanced degrees combined with clinical training. Residency training occurs through a variety of approaches, including didactic coursework, case-based and applied learning, clinical training, teaching, research, and self-study. Challenges to successful residency and graduate training include low numbers of diplomates, particularly at veterinary schools; low numbers of applicants; small numbers of funded programs; and faculty promotion systems that do not reward residency or graduate training and program development. The mentoring of individuals seeking both board certification and a graduate degree presents additional considerations, including recruitment of individuals motivated in research and structuring a combined program that facilitates completion of both tasks in a timely fashion.     

Response of a veterinary college to career development needs identified in the KPMG LLP study and the executive summary of the Brakke study: a combined MBA/DVM program, business certificate program, and curricular modifications

In the present market, veterinarians with a strong background in career development, practice management, and business skills have a clear advantage in achieving financial success. Although there is ample evidence that the scientific and clinical skills of veterinary college graduates are high, there are also data that suggest that additional capabilities in the business realm may promote greater economic success. As noted in the KPMG executive summary, the field of veterinary medicine must make changes in its "current business practices and attitudes" to be successful in the future. Furthermore, the KPMG study found that 36% of industry employers reported that some jobs within their companies had specific job requirements that were not met by a veterinarian with only a veterinary medical degree. The areas of additional training most often cited included business, administration, personnel management, sales and marketing, and financial skills. Yet, Lewis and Klausner found that veterinarians reported challenges in the business realm, such as "how business works and how business goals are translated into action. This challenge held true for veterinarians in industry, academia, government, and private practice." The present gender trends in the field of veterinary medicine provide additional impetus to make career development and business skills training more prevalent. Presently, women comprise >65% of the veterinary student population and approximately 45% of all practicing veterinarians. In some areas of practice, the rate is much higher. For example, in 2002, women comprised 48.2% of all small animal exclusive private practitioners. Unfortunately, the KPMG study found that female veterinarians in private practice report lower self-evaluation of business management and financial skills, compared with their male cohorts. Female veterinarians in nonprivate practice report lower self-evaluation in communication, personnel management, business management, and marketing skills than that reported by males. As a result of these pressing needs, CSU CVMBS has undertaken a major initiative to improve the veterinary practice management and business skills training of veterinary students by offering a variety of options to gain this knowledge: a combined MBA/DVM degree program, a Business Certificate Program for Health Professions, and core curriculum courses. In this way, students can select the amount of focus they want to place on career development and business skills as they earn their DVM degree, to best ensure that they become successful veterinarians.     

Veterinarians and public practice at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine: building on a tradition of expertise and partnership

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM), a regional veterinary college for Maryland and Virginia, has a long and unique tradition of encouraging careers in public and corporate veterinary medicine. The VMRCVM is home to the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine (CPCVM), and each year approximately 10% of the veterinary students choose the public/corporate veterinary medicine track. The faculty of the CPCVM, and their many partners from the veterinary public practice community, teach in the veterinary curriculum and provide opportunities for students locally, nationally, and internationally during summers and the final clinical year. Graduates of the program work for government organizations, including the US Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as in research, in industry, and for non-governmental organizations. Recent activities include securing opportunities for students, providing career counseling for graduate veterinarians interested in making a career transition, delivering continuing education, and offering a preparatory course for veterinarians sitting the board examination for the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. As the VMRCVM moves forward in recognition of the changing needs of the veterinary profession, it draws on its tradition of partnership and capitalizes on the excellence of its existing program. Future plans for the CPCVM include possible expansion in the fields of public health, public policy, international veterinary medicine, organizational leadership, and the One Health initiative. Quality assurance and evaluation of the program is ongoing, with recognition that novel evaluation approaches will be useful and informative.     

The combined master of public health program at Tufts University

The Combined Master of Public Health program at Tufts University unites medical and veterinary medical students in a four-year curriculum that integrates students' clinical studies with simultaneous studies on population health. Thirty years ago, Tufts University adopted a "One Medicine" approach to teaching health professionals. That perspective has been updated as "One Health" and is now being applied in a university environment that emphasizes interdisciplinary education, a global outlook, and civic engagement.     

Externship program for large animal clinical education at the University of Minnesota: description and evaluation.

In 1970, the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota started an externship program as part of their large animal clinical education program. The basic idea was to work in cooperation with practitioners, using their practice world as a teaching resource. During the 1973-1974 school year, this program was evaluated by the University of Minnesota Measurement Services Center. In this externship program, senior year students spend 1 or 2 weeks in practice that closely matches each student's career interest, eg, cow-calf, dairy, swine, or zoo. The participating veterinarians are charged with the responsibility of performing as teachers during the field experience and of assisting the student in preparing a seminar topic. This seminar topic is presented in a discussion format during the spring quarter to other externship students, faculty, and attending practitioners. Since 1970, a total of 176 students have taken externships, and every year 15 to 20 group practices have participated. The principal evaluation results were based on questionnaire responses from 36 students and 20 practices during the 1973-1974 academic year. Students and practitioners indicated that the externship had been a beneficial experience for them. Many felt that the period of externship should have been longer. In general, practitioners agreed that students were able to manage most diagnostic situations and manipulative procedures that occurred during the externship. The seminar was judged by students and practitioners to be a valuable part of the program, and faculty who participated in the seminar believed that it made them more aware of field situations facing practicing veterinarians.