Global perspectives of veterinary education: reflections from the 27th World Veterinary Congress

All who work in veterinary education must recognize the breadth of their responsibilities. We are at a time in veterinary history where the profession must look how to meet a global standard for veterinary education and the global recognition of our basic qualification. There is a societal expectation that a professional approach is being taken to managing food security and food safety, as well as the environment and biodiversity. Within our profession, we need to recognize our obligation to fulfill this role. Society and regulators will seek those who have the capacity to provide for society's needs. It is no longer a case of relying on the reputation of our profession alone. There is a significant disparity in universal recognition of the veterinary qualification between the major blocs of the developed world and the developing world. Graduates from developing countries are not widely recognized, and they and their countries may therefore be at a significant disadvantage. There will be significant costs involved in raising the standards of veterinary education. A lead must be taken by a global body such as the World Veterinary Association to develop a long-term strategy toward global recognition of the veterinary qualification.     

Carl Gillmeister: the first Doctor of veterinary medicine in Mecklenburg--and in Germany (1834)

German schools and faculties of veterinary medicine did not receive the sovereign right to award the degree "Doctor medicinae veterinarae" until the early twentieth century. Until then, in the nineteenth century there were two possibilities for veterinarians to earn a doctoral degree, usually referred to as the title of "Doctor": 1. On the basis of an exceptionally excellent dissertation and after very stringent examination a candidate could be awarded the degree "Dr. med." by the faculty of a medical school, or, if the candidate had studied at a philosophical faculty, the degree "Dr. phil." 2. A doctoral degree specifically in veterinary medicine could be earned only at a medical faculty. The Medical Faculty of the University of Giessen awarded the degree "Doctor in arte veterinaria" for the first time in 1832. In this study we prove that Giessen was not the first German university to award a doctorate in veterinary medicine, a priority which has never been questioned in the literature. As early as 1829, veterinarians could earn the degree "Doctor artis veterinariae" at the Medical Faculty of the University of Rostock, where three such awards are documented between 1829 and 1831. The designation "medicina" was also intially avoided in Rostock. Therefore, of particular significance is the discovery of a fourth such document from the Rostock University Archives, the doctoral diploma of Carl Jacob Friedrich Gillmeister, who at the age of 22 was awarded the degree "Doctor medicinae veterinariae" in Rostock after a successful defense. This is the earliest, but also the last archival record of the German doctoral degree in veterinary medicine in the modern sense, because after Gillmeister no veterinarian could earn a doctoral degree in Rostock further more. Gillmeisters vita sheds light on the times and the difficulties of the veterinary profession in the poor agricultural area of Mecklenburg.