A six-year veterinary medicine program developed in collaboration with Cornell University has opened at Hong Kong’s City University.
The inaugural class of about a dozen students is working toward a bachelor of veterinary medicine (BVM) degree in a program that holds provisional accreditation from the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council.
The undergraduate veterinary program, Hong Kong’s first, was announced in 2009. Since then, CityU has prepared facilities and acquired Hong Kong’s largest practice, Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic, which will serve as a training ground for veterinary and veterinary technician students.
Nearing completion is a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Also planned are livestock and aquaculture farms and equine facilities.
The curriculum is modeled on Cornell’s four-year DVM program. Cornell’s dean, Lorin Warnick, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPM, toured CityU in June.
CityU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences also awards a master’s degree in aquatic production and veterinary health and, in collaboration with Cornell, a doctorate in veterinary sciences.
The new program could keep Hong Kong residents closer to home when they enter college, CityU administrators say. About two-thirds of the 200 veterinary students studying abroad go to Australia.