Food Animal Education at the Michigan State University

College of Veterinary Medicine

 

 

 

The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine curriculum at the Michigan State
University College of Veterinary Medicine has many areas of educational
emphasis that prepare students for careers in small animal, large animal,
and pathologic sciences.  The focus of this article is food animal
education.  If you have questions about this or other college programs,
please visit our website to discover where to direct your questions.

 

http://cvm.msu.edu <http://cvm.msu.edu/> 

 

The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine is committed to being a national
leader in food animal production medicine training.  It is an exciting time
in the college.  The faculty have approved and implemented a new
pre-clinical curriculum that has important improvements, especially for
those interested in agricultural practice.  Our systems-based curriculum now
includes a new course in large animal anatomy, new emphasis on microbiology,
careful integration of physiology training into systems courses, and a new
course called Fundamental Clinical Skills in Large Animals.  Prior to
entering clinics, students will also complete elective courses selected from
a list that includes Management of Porcine Reproduction, Nutritional
Management of the Dairy Cow, Clinical Approaches to Pre-harvest Food Safety,
Foreign Animal Diseases, Bovine Pregnancy Diagnosis, Biological Risk
Management for Beef and Dairy Farms, and Applied Equine and Bovine Anatomy.

 

Over the past several years, the college has added three faculty members who
provide food animal instruction.  Another new position will be filled during
this academic year.

 

Our clinical curriculum is rather unique.  Students at the MSU College of
Veterinary Medicine spend approximately 45% of their clinical time in
elective courses.  For students who wish to develop a focus in food animal
production medicine, this is a great opportunity.  In addition to our
required clinical course in food animal medicine and surgery and a
requirement to spend 3-weeks with an adjunct faculty member at his or her
Michigan large animal practice, we offer 6 additional courses in production
medicine.  Students who develop this focus typically spend 24-27 out of
their 60 weeks in clinics gaining clinical experience in food animal
medicine and surgery and production medicine.  

 

Many of our students with an interest in food animal education also desire
to specialize in the interactions between animal and human populations.
Approximately 8% of MSU CVM students are dual enrolled in a Masters of
Public Health degree.

 

In collaboration with the Department of Animal Science, the MSU CVM has
established the Production Medicine Scholars Program.  This is one of four
such programs in the US that offer to students that elect specialized
training in animal agriculture an early admissions process to veterinary
medical college.  At MSU, our regular and adjunct faculty will be mentors to
the undergraduate students in this program.

 

The Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and the College of
Veterinary Medicine have developed a long-term partnership with a large
dairy farm near our campus.  As a result, the Training Center for Dairy
Professions has become the foundation upon which we build our clinical
training.  This single farm milks about 3500 cows per day and is home to
about 7000 animals of all ages.  The caseload is terrific and the training
opportunities are almost limitless.  In fact, students from other US and
Canadian colleges of veterinary medicine come to MSU for dairy production
medicine training.  To date, we have trained students from Ohio State
University, the Ontario Veterinary College, Texas A&M University, Kansas
State University, and the University of California.  Additionally, this
facility trains graduate veterinarians as interns and residents.  One of our
production medicine courses is taught as a partnership between faculty at
MSU and the Ontario Veterinary College.

 

Finally, an exciting outgrowth from our focus on food animal education is an
increasing number of students with an interest in food animal and production
medicine education.  The figure below shows the numbers of students electing
the basic production medicine clinical courses over the past seven years.
For the most part, these are students who have gone, or will be going into
agricultural practices.

 



 

Food animal education is augmented by the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, our
Extension Service faculty, and the Diagnostic Center for Population and
Animal Health.  The latter, our diagnostic laboratory, is one of the largest
diagnostic laboratory systems in the nation.  

 

 


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