Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Faculty Information
Contact Information
Location:Health Sciences Centre G359
Student Information: (403) 220-8699
Faculty Number: (403) 210-3961
Email address: vetacad@ucalgary.ca
Web page URL: http://www.vet.ucalgary.ca
Introduction
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary was established in 2005 and will accept its first class in the DVM program in fall 2008. The mission of the Faculty is to meet the needs of the veterinary, animal, and public health communities of Alberta, Canada, and the world through: excellence in delivery of a comprehensive undergraduate DVM educational program with enhanced programs in our areas of emphasis; excellence in clinical, diagnostic, and professional teaching and service, in collaboration with our partners in a Distributed Veterinary Learning Community; and excellence in the creation and distribution of new knowledge through research, graduate veterinary education, and continuing education in animal health and disease, and its relation to human health.
The Faculty will deliver a comprehensive core curriculum in the DVM program that provides an excellent foundation in general veterinary practice, preparing students to deliver entry-level care for the major domestic species, including food producing animals, equine and companion animals, and the major exotic species. The program is enhanced in our areas of strategic importance and strength, termed our areas of emphasis, which are as follows:
Production animal health -- population and individual veterinary care of food and fibre-producing animals; educating veterinarians to serve the needs of the animal industries
- Equine health -- population and individual care of horses; educating veterinarians to serve the needs of the equine industry
- Ecosystem and public health -- health interactions at the interface of domestic animals, wildlife, humans, and the environment; educating veterinarians for public and private practice to serve the health needs of Alberta, Canada, and global society
- Investigative medicine -- comparative medicine and biomedical research; educating veterinarians to support the biomedical research enterprise and contribute to the advancement of animal and human health
In order to graduate veterinarians with relevant and highly developed practical skills, we are collaborating with the Alberta veterinary profession and other partners in the delivery of the fourth year practicum program through a Distributed Veterinary Learning Community (DVLC) that includes veterinary practices in a Distributed Veterinary Teaching Hospital (DVTH), as well as other professional environments (e.g. government departments and laboratories, animal industries, corporations, and other universities) in Alberta, Canada, and internationally.
Pattern
The DVM program is delivered over four calendar years and includes 9 semesters of instruction. A total of 27 hours of class and laboratory time and 1 hour of seminar are scheduled weekly during the first three years (six semesters) of the curriculum. The final year consists of 40 weeks of practicum rotation experiences delivered over a full calendar year and is comprised of hands-on clinical and professional education. There are no rotations scheduled in December of the final year to allow time for student evaluation and for students to prepare for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examinations (NAVLE).
The DVM curriculum provides a balance of opportunities for students to learn foundational knowledge, to acquire and practice clinical and professional skills, and to develop diagnostic reasoning capability during the first three years. Broad coverage of the scientific veterinary knowledge base is provided in a series of discipline-based courses. Clinical material at the individual animal and population levels is seen regularly through delivery of a series of Clinical Presentations courses. In these courses, students begin to develop their diagnostic reasoning skills, to apply concepts learned in their discipline courses, and to explore broader issues related to animal health.
A series of Clinical and Professional Skills courses offered in each semester of the first three years enables students to have early and frequent contact with animals, where they learn and practice clinical and professional skills necessary for the practicum year. Each Clinical Skills course contains learning modules for clinical examinations, diagnostic procedures, clinical intervention and management, and clinical proficiency. Students spend two half-days per week in these modules mastering clinical skills while working with animals housed at the Clinical Skills Building. Professional Skills courses include training in communication, people management, critical and reflective thinking, ethics, jurisprudence, self care and professional renewal, business operations, informatics, and research.
Two weeks of each semester during the first three years of the program are assigned to field courses. Field courses have been designed and scheduled to allow students to work under supervision for a focused time period within our Distributed Veterinary Learning Community sites on selected veterinary topics.
Delivery of final year practicum rotations through the Distributed Veterinary Learning Community provides a wealth of clinical and professional experiences, preparing students for the broad range of career opportunities available within the veterinary profession. The Distributed Veterinary Teaching Hospital gives students access to a large hands-on case load that includes a significant proportion of primary care cases, in addition to more complex, tertiary care cases. Scheduling of the final year over 12 months provides opportunity to capture clinical experiences specific to spring and summer.
In the fourth year, practicum rotations are organized into 4 different courses. All students must take a course in Laboratory Diagnostics, involving 4 weeks of pathology and clinical pathology, and a course in General Veterinary Practice, involving 10 weeks of clinical rotations covering the major domestic species. Students also choose one of four areas of emphasis courses, which provide 14 weeks of rotations in the following areas: production animal health, equine health, ecosystem and public health, and investigative medicine. Students also enroll in a clinical enrichment course, which includes a further 12 weeks of hands-on animal care rotations. The combination of the last two courses contain a choice of rotations that allow students to either increase the depth of their experience in an area of emphasis or broaden their experience in different aspects of veterinary practice.
Objectives
The overall objectives of the DVM curriculum are to:
- Provide a comprehensive, cohesive, coherent curriculum that equips students with the appropriate balance of knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for licensure and general veterinary practice.
- Provide students with enhanced education in the areas of emphasis of the Faculty through specific programming and elective opportunities in production animal health; equine health; ecosystem and public health; and investigative medicine.
- Engage students in an active learning environment using a variety of effective teaching methods and educational resources that cover the range of learning approaches.
- Emphasize the scientific principles underlying veterinary medicine as a basis for sound clinical practice, through the integration of basic biomedical sciences with clinical information.
- Provide a positive learning environment that fosters collegiality among students, faculty, and veterinarians, while promoting self-esteem, confidence, and personal and professional ethics.
- Provide students with the learning and research skills needed to maintain a high standard of practice throughout their career, using evidence-based medicine.
- Equip students with the professional skills to help them identify and achieve their career goals while living a balanced lifestyle.
- Provide students with clear performance expectations through the use of outcome based objectives assessed in an ongoing fashion with formative and summative evaluation.
- Provide students with a broad exposure to the veterinary profession through mentorship, collaborative experiences with our educational partners, interactions with community veterinarians, and research experiences.
Opportunities
Graduates of the DVM program are eligible to practice in Canada, but the DVM degree does not itself confer the right to practice. The Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is the professional organization governing the practice of veterinary medicine in Alberta under the authority of the Veterinary Profession Act. Students interested in exploring matters relative to license to practice in Alberta should refer to the AVMA website at http://www.avma.ab.ca. For information relative to license to practice in the other provinces in Canada, students should contact the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, 339 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1R 7K1, who will refer them to the appropriate provincial veterinary association.
Student Affairs
The Office of Student Affairs in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine serves as the first point of contact for students requiring assistance with any aspect of student life. The Office provides the framework for academic counseling and advising and provides referrals to other University services where required.
Resources
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is located in the Health Sciences Complex (HSC) on the Foothills Campus, and the Spy Hill Teaching and Research Complex, on the Spy Hill Campus. The Foothills campus is located approximately 1 kilometre south of the main campus of the University of Calgary, while the Spy Hill campus is approximately 17 kilometres north-west of the Foothills campus. The HSC functions as home-base for most of our faculty, containing faculty offices, educational space, the Health Sciences Library, a student bookstore, food services, and many of our core research facilities. Educational space dedicated specifically to the DVM educational program at the HSC includes a classroom, 4 small group teaching rooms, 2 teaching laboratories, a student lounge, student organization offices, and a learning area. Educational space shared with other programs at the HSC includes 5 lecture theatres, 24 classrooms, the Medical Skills Centre, and a variety of special purpose rooms for videoconferencing, informatics, and laboratory activities.
The Clinical Skills Building (CSB) on the Spy Hill Campus in Northwest Calgary will be the site of clinical and professional skills education during the first 3 years of the DVM program. The CSB will have educational facilities for anatomy, animal handling, medical exercises, clinical skills, diagnostic imaging, diagnostic support, and pathology instruction. There will be outside holding pens for cattle and horses, and kennel facilities for dogs and cats. The CSB will also have classrooms, small group teaching rooms, laboratory facilities, and all the necessary support areas. Primary student support services are provided at the HSC and main campus; however, additional administrative and student support space (e.g. kitchen, lounge area, learning commons) will be available at the CSB to support students and activities while they are at that location.
The first three years of the DVM program will be delivered predominantly at both the HSC and CSB. The Faculty will arrange group transportion for students and faculty between the Foothills and Spy Hill campuses. Public transport is available directly to the HSC and to within 500 metres of the Spy Hill Campus.
Clinical resources to support the DVM program are provided by a combination of institution-owned animals, partnerships that provide animals and patients for on-campus instruction, and through partnerships that provide off-campus exposure to animals in affiliated veterinary practices.
During the final year of the DVM program, students will complete their practicum courses within a group of private veterinary practices that together constitute the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine's Distributed Veterinary Teaching Hospital (DVTH), and at other institutional and private partner settings that constitute our Distributed Veterinary Learning Community (DVLC). Many of these off-campus sites are located within a 90 minute drive of the HSC; the others are distributed across Alberta. Examples of private veterinary practices constituting our DVTH include but are not limited to: Associate Veterinary Clinics, CARE Centre Animal Hospital, Feedlot Health Management Services, Frank Marshall Swine Group, Horizon Veterinary Group, Krebs Veterinary Services, Leduc Veterinary Hospital Inc., Moore and Company Veterinary Services Ltd., Peace River Veterinary Clinic, Stettler Veterinary Clinic, Teradan Equine Veterinary Services, Western Veterinary Specialist Centre, and Westlock Veterinary Centre. Examples of institutional and private partners that provide settings for our DVLC include but are not limited to: Alta Genetics Inc., the Calgary Humane Society, Olds College, Simpson Ranching Ltd., the University of Alberta, and various government agencies.