Veterinary medical education and a changing culture

Veterinary medical education is undergoing rapid change in terms of pedagogy, the demographics of the student body, and, in turn, the membership of the profession. Central to the value of the traditional curriculum and the total student experience is the small-group environment, both in client service and in clinical rounds. It is one of the few Socratic learning experiences in higher education today. Similarly, experience in private practice is of inestimable value in terms of developing people skills and a lasting sense of service and accountabilty. In a generation, the student body has transformed from vanishingly small numbers of women to a predominance of female students. However, the profession still is very white, in a world becoming more and more diverse. With a predominantly white faculty and student body today, this circumstance shows little promise of rapid enough change to maintain relevance to a workforce that, a generation from now, likely will be dominated numerically by people of color. The incorporation of various world views and the impact of stereotyping on performance are central to issues of success and failure of minorities and, in somewhat different ways, women in the veterinary medical profession. These issues must become better understood and addressed. And to accomplish this, and to address a host of other culturally important issues, a greater diversity of world views must be engaged in the work and planning of veterinary medical education and the profession at large. Addressing these issues in an environment in which the values of faculty and administrators are intensely focused on the science of veterinary medicine, and in which the participants hold dear a system that places value only on teaching, research, and clinical service, is a formidable undertaking and will require substantial reconsideration of faculty role and reward systems.     

Veterinary education

Extract

It is with considerable hesitance that I have selected for the topic of my presidential address, a subject which has been so near to the hearts of previous presidents. For the last three months, after 12 years' fallow in the diagnostic, research, practice, and survey fields, the problems of veterinary education have become my constant companions. It is no longer possible to argue in a detached way with friends on how a veterinary surgeon should be trained—it has become essential for me to recognize clearly the main services which our profession could and should give, and, with the help of my colleagues in the Department of Medicine, to ensure that, in the subjects of anatomy, surgery, and medicine, the training given fits the students in the best possible manner for the tasks ahead.     

Veterinary education

Extract

In a number of circumstances, helminthologicalstudies would be considerably facilitatedby the transfer of naturally-infected sheep from pasture to pens to enable them to be maintained without further re-infestation. However, at present few data are available concerning the effects of such a transfer upon the persistence and pattern of an existing infestation following the removal of the animals from the source of infection and the sudden marked change of diet. The present work provides information on this point.     

About veterinary education in Iraq

The cons and pros of veterinary education in Iraq are described. Started as a small institution, with few students and with foreign staffs, then expanded to enroll more than hundred students each year, with all Iraqi staff. The graduates of the Veterinary College played an important role in monitoring animal health, supervising research projects involving animal welfare, some served as educators of various veterinary science specializations, others worked as private practitioners or recruited in the army. Veterinary education was very vital, as other sciences for progress of the country.     

Veterinary medical education and veterinary involvement in aquatic-animal health and aquaculture in Mexico

This article analyzes curriculum offerings related to aquaculture and/or aquatic-animal health taught in veterinary medical schools or colleges in Mexico. The information database of the Mexican Association of Schools and Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and the Web sites of veterinary institutions indicate that 60% of veterinary colleges include courses related to aquaculture in their curriculum, but most of these are optional courses. There are few specialized continuing education programs or graduate level courses. There is also a lack of veterinary participation, in both public and private sectors, in aquatic-animal health. It is evident that there should be a greater involvement by the veterinary profession in Mexico's aquaculture to ensure food production in a safe and sustainable manner; to achieve this, veterinary medical institutions must include more aquaculture and aquatic-animal health courses in their curricula.     

Veterinary education in China

A brief history of the development of veterinary knowledge and education in China and a short account of present-day veterinary education are presented. In dealing with the latter, information on the number and structure of schools, the undergraduate curriculum, graduate numbers and employment on graduation are considered. Information on the staffing of veterinary teaching departments, academic staff salaries and pensions is also added.