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Background
The Strategic Plan 1990-2000 for Washington State
University (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) emphasized the need to increase its
graduates' awareness of the international dimension of veterinary medicine. In 1991 the
CVM established the International Veterinary Education (IVE) program to provide students
with an opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of international issues in
veterinary medicine. The IVE program uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore the
critical and expanding role that veterinary medicine has assumed within the global
agricultural marketplace. This approach also takes into consideration the importance of
socioeconomic and cultural systems, and the environment. Through the IVE program students
have the possibility of taking up to two elective courses. The linkages between courses
allow students to acquire an introductory background in regional animal health issues and
promote an in-depth understanding of specific problems through directed study and
international experience.
Course Offerings
International Veterinary Medicine (VM 501). This
introductory course focuses on international issues concerning animal health, disease, and
production within a socioeconomic and cultural context. Topics covered include issues
relating to animal-environment interface, women in livestock development, and wildlife
conservation. Instructors involved in teaching the course represent eight university
departments, as well as non-university guest lecturers. Some lectures may be
delivered from other locations as live web presentations. The one credit course is offered
during the fall semester and can be taken as an elective by first through third-year
students.
International Field Studies (VM 504). This course
is open only to students who have successfully completed VM 501. The externships require students to spend a minimum of one
month working in countries having established exchange agreements with WSU or with a
cooperative state or federal agency. The externships provide an opportunity for students to
obtain practical working experience in the areas of animal health and well-being,
livestock production (including poultry and aquaculture), public health, and trade within
the cultural environment of another country.
Seminars and Symposia
The IVE program also supports seminars and symposia
organized by the International Veterinary Student Association (IVSA) -WSU Chapter which
features speakers with international experience who address topics of importance not
usually covered in detail within the curriculum (e.g., poultry production and diseases).
In addition to lectures, the symposia incorporate "hands on" experience in
production and disease diagnostics.
For more information about the above
courses and other IVE program activities please contact:
Mushtaq A. Memon, BVSc, PhD, Coordinator, E-mail:
memon@vetmed.wsu.edu
College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-7010
Phone: (509) 335-9515
Fax: (509) 335-6094
International Organizations Sources of
International Information
Looking for information about international organizations,
animal diseases in other countries, travel and customs, health and vaccinations
requirements, names and addresses of veterinary schools or zoos, or sources of funding?
Here are places to look for information on those topics and more:
Printed resources (journals, dictionaries,
directories in libraries):
Journals: Scan international veterinary journals such as International
Veterinary Student, Kenya Veterinarian, Journal of Veterinary Medical
Science (Japan), Irish Veterinary Journal. Review the international
section in issues of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
Association.
Foreign
language veterinary dictionaries: These are just a few....
French-English
Mack, Roy. Veterinary and Animal Science Dictionary. Edition du Point
Veterinaire: Maisons-Alfort, 1991
German-English
Mack, Roy. Worterbuch der Veterinarmedizin und Browissenschaffen./Dictionary of
Veterinary Medicine and Biosciences, 2nd ed. Berlin, Blackwell
Wissenschafts-Verlag,
1996.
Multilingual
Dictionary of Animal Health Technology: English, French, Spanish, German, Latin.
Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1992
Directories: These are useful in locating names,
addresses, fax numbers, etc.
European Association of Establishments for Veterinary
Education. Register of Establishments. EAEVE, Netherlands: 1994.
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Directory of
Veterinary Practices. RCVS, London: 1992
World Veterinary Association. World Veterinary Directory.
World Veterinary Association, Madrid: 1991
Newspapers, travel books and tapes: Check your
local public and university libraries for these.
Electronic and non-print resources:
Listservs or newsgroups with international
membership : For making international contacts, join one such as VETPLUS-L, which has
subscribers in 50 countries.
The World Wide Web is full of international
resources and information:
Veterinary Information and Databases
NetVet: everything veterinary or animal-related:
veterinary school home pages, publications, and much more.
http://netvet.wustl.edu/
Veterinary Conference Proceedings and Veterinary Table
of Contents
Searchable subject index to conference proceedings and
contents of recent issues of over 100 U.S. and international veterinary journals. Also
table of contents of over 300 veterinary books.
http://www.medvet.umontreal.ca/biblio
Selected Veterinary Websites by Country
Australia:
Australian Veterinary Association--AVA Online.
http://www.ava.com.au
Belgium
Veterinary Medicine in Belgium.
http://www.ping.be/~ping0522/
Canada (French)
Veterinet.
http://www.veterinet.net/
Germany: Tiermedizin in Deutschland. (in German)
http://www.tiermedizin.de/public/index.htm
Mexico: Asociacion Mexicana de Medicos Veterinarios especialistas
en Pequenas Especies.
http://www.ammvepe.com/
United Kingdom:
VetIndex-OnLine.
http://www.vetindex.co.uk/
Vet Web.
http://www.vetweb.co.uk/
Selected Veterinary Websites
Livestock Breeds of the World: Photos and
descriptions of livestock breeds of the world, from cattle to camels.
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/
EpiVetNet : Website for international epidemiology.
http://epiweb.massey.ac.nz
IVSA Home Page : Home page of the international
veterinary student association.
http://www.ivsa.org/
WSU IVSA home page
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clubs_ivsa/ivsa.asp
WHO Veterinary Public Health Program: Issues dealing
with global food hygiene and zoonoses.
http://www.who.int/en/
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service:
Import-Export Directory ; Regulations regarding US imports and exports of animals, plants
and agricultural products.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/
Travel Information
*CDC: Centers for Disease Control: Includes health information for international travelers.
http://www.cdc.gov/page.do
CIA Fact Book: Information on every country of the world.
http://www.theodora.com/wfb/abc_world_fact_book.html
WHO: World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/en/
*CityNet: Useful travel information about cities and countries,
including maps, health information, State Department travel advisories, languages, country
home pages, etc.
http://www.citynet.com/
Monetary exchange rates: A quick conversion table for converting currencies, such as
to $.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Virtual Tourist II: More useful information on countries.
http://www.vtourist.com/vt/
IntelliCast:
Current U.S. and world weather.
http://www.intellicast.com
Languages for Travelers: Hear pronunciations of common words and phrases in more
than twenty languages.
http://www.travlang.com/languages/
Altavista Translation Services: To translate web pages, or just plain text---to and from
English. (French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish).
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Newspapers
Yahoo Newspage: Online full text of world newspapers
http://news.yahoo.com
Worldwide List of Online Newspapers: More online world newspapers
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
Internet
Searching Tools: for finding sites
anywhere by subject,. e.g. country
Use Netscape’s NetSearch button or Internet finders
such as:
Google
http://www.google.com
Altavista
http://www.altavista.com
Dogpile
http://www.dogpile.com
Electronic journal indexes such as VETCD, BEASTCD,
CABCD, which can be found in most veterinary libraries, are invaluable in locating
references on international veterinary diseases, services, etc.
Personal contacts
International associations: Join associations, attend
meetings where you can meet international colleagues in Email: it’s a fast, cheap,
and easy means for communicating with your new international colleagues.
International
Organizations Involved in Livestock Production and Animal Health
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Since its inception in 1945, FAO has worked to alleviate
poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and the
pursuit of food security. Sustainability is the byword in FAO activities in land and water
development, plant and animal production, forestry, fisheries, economic and social policy,
investment, nutrition, food standards and commodities and trade.
http://www.fao.org
The AGRIS and Agrovoc databases are now available at
this site. Click on Documentation Services and proceed.
Animal Production and Health: The Animal Production and Health Division is entrusted with
the promotion of livestock production within the context of sustainable development and
improved food security. Its objective is to increase productivity of domestic animals by
making better use of available resources. The Division is concerned with the development
of animal health and production technologies and with the provision of strategy
formulation and policy advice to member countries. It collects and disseminates
information on animal health, feed resources, animal genetic resources and livestock
production systems. The Division also provides an international forum where governments
discuss policies and negotiate international agreements in the area of animal production
and health.
http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/home/en/home.html
International
Fund for Agricultural Development: IFAD was created in response to the appeal made in
Resolution XIII of the 1974 World Food Conference for the mobilization of financial
resources for agricultural development projects, primarily for the improvement of food
production in developing countries.The Fund, a specialized agency of the United Nations,
was launched in December 1977 as an international financial institution with the mandate
of assisting exclusively the rural poor. The initial resources of the Fund amounted to USD
1.02 billion. The projects and programmes financed by the Fund are geared to enhancing
food production systems and to strengthening related policies and institutions within each
country's national policy framework as they relate to poor rural people. Specific
objectives are food security through increased agricultural production, the improvement of
nutritional levels and the incomes of the poorest rural populations, the landless,
marginal farmers, pastoralists, fish erfolk, indigenous peoples and, across all groups,
poor rural women.
http://www.fao.org
OIE (Office International des Epizooties)
http://www.oie.int
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
http://www.cgiar.org/ilri/
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI),
founded in 1994, incorporates the resources of the former International Laboratory for
Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD, Kenya) and the International Livestock Centre for
Africa (ILCA, Ethiopia). ILRI, a non-profit-making research institute, is sponsored by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The global mandate of
ILRI is to undertake research to enhance the role of livestock in sustainable agricultural
production systems in Africa, Asia, and the Latin American/Caribbean region. Six programme
areas address Conservation of Biodiversity, Production Systems Research, Utilisation of
Tropical Feed Resources, Animal Health Improvement, Livestock Policy Analysis and
Strengthening National Agricultural Research Systems.
Special Program for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR)
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/aftsr/index.htm
SPAAR is a regional forum established in 1985 to: (a)
enhance the quality and relevance of agricultural technology development in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA); (b) improve consultation and collaboration among stakeholders in
agricultural research in SSA; and (c) increase the exchange of information on research
activities.
International
Employment Opportunities
International jobs include clinical veterinary medicine,
public health, animal production and health, economics, and research. Most jobs are with
government, service/assistance, educational, or religious organizations. There are likely
to be openings in industry for DVMs with language skills and an interest in travel.
International opportunities may be found in a variety of ways. Practicing veterinarians
can host an international student through the International Veterinary Student
Association;http://www.waltham.com/ This may lead to an opportunity to visit that students home country and learn about
veterinary needs there. Contact the IVSA at your area's veterinary school. Veterinarians
who are interested in helping others through environmental awareness may find a niche in
international work. The Alliance of Veterinarians for the Environment is developing a
career counseling project to help DVMs find work related to conservation and environmental
health. http://www.aveweb.org A wide variety of service and church groups may provide
opportunities for short-term international work. Contact those in your area for more
information. Write to veterinary schools and associations in countries of interest, and
ask if there are any courses, internship or volunteer opportunities. For instance, the
University of Pretoria in South Africa offers an opportunity for training in tropical
diseases and parasites prevalent in Africa. Short courses (one week to one month long)
vary each year; subjects might include veterinary laboratory diagnostics, African
epizootic diseases, or wildlife immobilization.
U.S. Veterinary colleges offer courses for students and
graduate veterinarians that relate to international work. For instance, Michigan State
University offers a program for mid-career professionals in Science, Politics, and Animal
Health Policy that includes international trade.
Veterinary students at Tufts may obtain the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree, concentrating in
International policy-making issues, as well as the DVM degree. http://www.tufts.edu/vet/signature/intlvetmed.html
For a wide variety of new opportunities, do a search of the Web, using the
words veterinarian and volunteer. A recent search turned up interesting
opportunities such as one in Cozumel (go diving, then work by helping out at the
humane shelter there). For more ideas, try different search words such as
"international," "internship," "fellowship," "science," "livestock,"
"conservation," or the name of a specific country.
The Peace
Corps http://www.peacecorps.gov Volunteers in
Overseas Cooperative Assistance http://www.acdivoca.org/
Citizen's Ambassador Program http://www.ambassadors.com
Nonveterinary college programs may also offer opportunities. Look for
international fellowships and internships for graduate students in the life
sciences.
When approaching some international assistance groups, you may be turned away when you ask
about positions for veterinarians (the person you re asking may think of veterinarians as
dog doctors). Instead, start by asking about positions related to agriculture or livestock
management.
Please refer
to the following books for additional information:
Career Choices for Veterinarians: Beyond Private
Practice. by Carin A. Smith, DVM, Leavenworth, Washington, Smith Veterinary Services, 1998.
Tending Animals
in the Global Village by David M Sheaman. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2002
International
Conferences, Meetings, and Seminars
Announcements for International Conferences, Meetings,
and Seminars Agricultural Conferences, Meetings, Seminars Calendar http://www.agnic.org/mtg/ The Agricultural
Conferences, Meetings, Seminars Calendar provides a central repository for information and
links to information concerning upcoming agricultural conferences, with emphasis on those
of scientific significance.
Mushtaq A. Memon, BVSc, PhD, Coordinator, E-mail: memon@vetmed.wsu.edu College of
Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-7010
Phone: (509) 335-9515
Fax: (509) 335-6094
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