Programme Overview

Curriculum

The BVM is a six-year programme designed to train professionally competent veterinarians in accordance with the international accreditation standards of the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). At graduation, students will have achieved the Day One Competences required for veterinarians.

In BVM Years 1 and 2 (the pre-clinical curriculum), the Programme focuses on biomedical and pre-clinical disciplines to equip students with the knowledge and understanding required to embark on the para-clinical and clinical curriculum taught in Years 3 to 6 of the BVM. The pre-clinical curriculum provides students with the confidence and competences needed to assess the behaviour of a range of different species and safely handle them for health assessments and clinical examinations. The four themes of the BVM, comprising Animal Welfare, Aquatic Animal Health, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Food Safety, are introduced from Day 1 of the BVM Programme. The pre-clinical curriculum includes CityU's required 30 credit units (CUs) of Gateway Education courses and 42 CUs comprising Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine pre-requisites and core courses.

In the summer term of BVM Year 1, students enrol in two weeks of Pre-Extramural Studies (EMS) Animal Handling Skills to prepare them for the 12 weeks of Animal Husbandry EMS, which are to be completed during non-teaching times in BVM Years 1 and 2.

In BVM Years 3 and 4, which include the para-clinical and clinical curriculum, students undertake General Pathology (3 CUs), Clinical Pharmacology/ Toxicology (3 CUs), two Veterinary Practice and Professional Studies courses (3 CUs each) and three 18 CUs foundation courses (Animal Body, Function and Dysfunction, Host Agent and Defence), which are delivered using problem-based learning (PBL), as well as four courses with 20 CUs in total in the area of animal health and disease.

In BVM Years 5 and 6, students enrol in seven clinical courses, including Veterinary Practice & Professional Studies 3 (3 CUs), where they progressively develop competency in clinical skills at a total of 29 CUs. Students also apply evidence-based medicine skills to conduct research in a 6 CUs Research Project and complete the remaining core theme course in food safety (2 CUs).

Pre-clinical and Clinical EMS (26 weeks in total) are undertaken in non-teaching periods of BVM Years 4 to 6 and provide students with the opportunity to further develop their clinical skills and experience in a variety of real-world settings including clinical practices as well as abattoirs, laboratories, or government veterinary services.

Clinical Rotations (26 weeks in total) commence in BVM Year 5 and are completed in BVM Year 6. During Clinical Rotations, students apply and practise their skills in clinical examination and diagnosis, clinical medicine, clinical pathology, therapeutics, pharmacy, anaesthesia, diagnostic imaging, surgery, clinical pathology, pathology, preventative veterinary medicine and health monitoring, and veterinary certification under the supervision of qualified veterinarians.

The six-year curriculum emphasises both clinical practice and the science that underlies it, ensuring that BVM students develop into well-rounded veterinarians omnicompetent to provide veterinary care to multiple animal species, including companion animals (cats, dogs, horses), exotics and wildlife, marine and freshwater species and livestock.

The BVM curriculum uses problem-based learning to deliver key para-clinical courses, including Animal Body, Function and Dysfunction, and Host, Agent and Defence. In these courses, students develop problem-solving skills and embrace an evidence-based veterinary medicine approach that is invaluable for a diverse array of careers in veterinary medicine, from general to specialist practice and research.

The completion of some curriculum components may require students to spend time at facilities outside of Hong Kong, including, for example, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, New York State (for Animal Husbandry EMS), Australia and Mainland China.

Students are required to undertake courses without intermission to fulfil the BVM degree requirements within the normative study period.

The requirements of international accreditation standards and the commitment to cover the four themes (Animal Welfare, Aquatic Animal Health, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Food Safety) mean that all students are expected to follow the same course of study below (click on a course code for more information about individual courses):

In addition, four non-credit-bearing courses must be completed:

• VM1001 Pre-EMS Animal Handling Skills (Year 1),
• VM1002 Animal Husbandry EMS (Years 1 and 2),
• VM1004 Pre-clinical EMS (Year 4),
• VM1005 Clinical EMS (Years 5 and 6).

Please click HERE for the complete six-year curriculum structure (click on a course code for more information about individual courses) or HERE for more information about the BVM Programme in general (including Intended Learning Outcomes).