School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
We continue to assemble a team of world-class animal and veterinary academics who collectively bring together a wealth of research knowledge and opportunites for the School.
With a strong student focus and teaching excellence, we are developing leading-edge veterinary and animal sciences curricula. The programs focus on educating students for careers across a wide range of animal-based disciplines.
The first third year cohort of students are on board as of late February 2010 and will graduate as our first BSc Pre-Veterinary students at the end of 2010. The clinical component of the program has been officially named the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree and will run for the first time from 2011-13. Veterinary Science training requires completion of both degrees to educate graduates for registration as veterinarians throughout Australia and overseas in countries currently accepting graduates of other Australasian veterinary schools. We now have about 195 students in the Pre-Vet program and close to 180 students in the three-year BSc (Animal Science) program.
In addition to the undergraduate students, we already have 20 honours students and 25 PhD students. By the time we have the full DVM cohort at Roseworthy, we will have in the order of 650 students in the school. We will grow to about 100 staff on the Roseworthy campus, thus thoroughly reinvigorating the campus and becoming the major animal and veterinary research and clinical centre for the State.
The School will deliver its curriculum in an integrated and innovative way. Traditional schools tend to compartmentalise the preclinical and clinical subjects but we are delivering greater integration to allow introduction of clinical examination and basic problem-solving skills at a much earlier stage in the program. Communication skills and critical thinking will be fostered through clinical problem-based learning, presentations and research opportunities.
We are building a public access Companion Animal Health Centre at the Roseworthy Campus as well as new preclinical teaching laboratories with specialised anatomy and physiology areas and a surgical skills suite. In addition, the development of the Production Animal Health Centre housing both the Ambulatory Services, as well as capacity for in-patient production animal care.
The School continues to develop partnerships with veterinary practices and State Government agencies to allow co-localisation of facilities to enhance the exposure of students to a wide range of animal and veterinary skills and professional practice types. We have the South Australian Research and Development Institute’s (SARDI) Marine Biosecurity facility being built alongside the new pathology suite to enhance collaborative research and training in Aquatic Health at Roseworthy.
Professor Kym Abbott, Acting Head of School
