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.     

Computer applications in veterinary medical education

This is a review of the various computer applications used in veterinary medical education. The various applications include drill-and-practice, tutorial, problem-solving, testing, educational management programs, educational games, word processing, educational utilities, authoring programs, and simulations.     

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.     

Perspectives on veterinary education in Thailand

Veterinary education is the foundation of veterinary services in the country. Starting from the service sector in the army, veterinary education and practice in Thailand have been standardized and progressed toward international veterinary standards. The 6-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine core curriculum is deployed to develop the curriculum for each Veterinary Education Establishment (VEE). The challenges for veterinary education and practices reflect the country’s expectations of veterinary services. With regional and global collaboration, the VEEs have been developing tools and learning platforms for delivering qualified veterinary graduates that fit fast-growing society needs.     

200 years of education in veterinary medicine and veterinary activity in Czechoslovakia

The development of veterinary medicine in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is evaluated on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the first lectures on veterinary science at Charles University in Prague (1784). Efforts to found a special veterinary school in Prague date back to the beginning of the 19th century; more than 20 petitions and interpellations concerning the establishment of such a school had been presented to the Bohemian Diet and the Imperial Parliament since 1841. The efforts for the establishment of this school were gradually conjoined with the national-revivalist and national-liberation movement. However, the veterinary university was established only in 1918, in Brno, when Czechoslovakia won independence. The development of veterinary medicine in the territory of today's Czechoslovakia is appreciated positively, mainly in the last 100 years. However, it was only after 1948--in the process of the transition from small-scale farming to large-scale socialist agricultural production--that all the needed practical and economic conditions were created for the development of veterinary medicine. The veterinary service was nationalized in 1951 and adequate material and technical backgrounds were built. Another veterinary university schools was introduced, and post-graduate studies and veterinary extension activities were started.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Reflections on modern veterinary education

In this brief address, I would like to review in very broad terms some of the major quandaries facing the veterinary profession as we hurtle towards what I believe will be a very different earth in the not too distant future. Associated with these, I also wish to express some personal concerns about what we need to prepare our students for and thus fulfill our obligation to the profession at large. Finally I would like to deliver some thoughts on how we might meet these tremendous demands on our curricula. These latter reflections will by no means be all encompassing but will represent some substance for future debate. I must honestly confess that I too am anxious how best to meet several of the challenges but there must be ways and means. We need everyone's sage input and well considered opinions to develop our strategy and to come through as the elegant, humanistic, responsive and accommodating profession for which we are so well known.