The College aims to train veterinarians that fulfil the Day One Competences as stipulated by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and adopted by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC). As a college that strives to be a premier provider of veterinary research, training and service in Asia, the College is also committed to attaining Competencies of Graduating Veterinarians (‘Day 1 Graduates’) of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Each competency is related to a course learning objective present in the courses of the curriculum which are mapped against the RCVS Day One Competences. Thus it will not be possible for a student to graduate who has exceeded the pass mark for the course by being very proficient at one aspect but at the same time scoring a very low mark for an aspect directly linked to a Day One competency. To graduate, a student must not only exceed the pass mark for a particular course but also achieve Day One Competences in the skills and attributes associated with that course.

The curriculum was designed with five objectives:

(a) To meet the accreditation standards set by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC);
(b) To include courses of particular relevance in east, south-east, and south Asia and arranged in themes
• Animal Welfare
• Aquatic Animal Health
• Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Food Safety
(c) To include pre-clinical courses in Year 1 and 2 to prepare students for para-clinical and clinical studies in subsequent years;
(d) To include para-clinical and clinical courses in Years 3 – 6 which are modelled on the veterinary medicine curriculum of our partner, The College of Veterinary Medicine of Cornell University; 
(e) To meet the University’s undergraduate requirements.

1. Have an understanding of the scientific principles underlying veterinary medicine
2. Acquire the basic clinical skills and attitudes necessary to care for the common domestic animals and other species entrusted to our stewardship
3. Acquire critical thinking as evidenced by successful problem solving
4. Demonstrate sound clinical judgment and medical decision-making skills
5. Show an understanding of the interactions among animals, people, and the environment
6. Display a commitment to professionalism, including a commitment to animal welfare and to following the best practices in relation to ethical, cultural, global, business management, and legal issues
7. Subscribe to the need for self-education and lifelong learning skills to promote professional growth
8. Demonstrate an understanding of the limits of one’s knowledge and skills and the ability to address those limits through effective use of sources of information and expertise
9. Satisfy a series of Day One Competences
10. Have particular knowledge and understanding of the issues related to Animal Welfare, Aquatic Animal Health, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Food Safety

There are also curricular milestones. These are compulsory requirements which do not carry any credit units but must be satisfactorily completed before a student can advance in the programme. These are:

(a) pass every course in a year (including the core courses and University Gateway Education courses as stipulated in the BVM curriculum) to progress to the next year level;

(b) satisfactorily complete VM1001 Pre-EMS Animal Handling Skills prior to commencing VM1002 Animal Husbandry Extra-Mural Studies (EMS);

(c) satisfactorily complete VM1002 Animal Husbandry Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) before progressing to BVM Year 3;

(d) satisfactorily complete 26 weeks of Pre-Clinical and Clinical Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) (course code: VM1004 and VM1005) during the Summer Terms and/or teaching breaks prior to graduation;

(e) satisfactorily complete a register of veterinary clinical skills prior to graduation;

(f) satisfactorily pass Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) to be able to participate in Surgery and Anaesthesia practical training activities involving live animals and progress through the programme.