Canada - University of Guelph - Ontario Veterinary College
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The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) is a veterinary school located on the campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The OVC is the oldest veterinary school in North America and is one of five Canadian veterinary schools that offers the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. Other veterinary schools in Canada are located at the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan, the Université de Montréal and the University of Prince Edward Island.
About Us
The OVC was established in Toronto in 1862, by Andrew Smith, a graduate of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh. In 1922, the college moved to Guelph and became one of the founding colleges of the University of Guelph in 1964. Since then, the OVC has grown with the University of Guelph. In 2012, the OVC will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Education
The OVC offers a four-year bachelor's degree in biomedical science in addition to the DVM degree. Students apply to the four-year DVM program after a minimum of four full-time university semesters. There are 120 seats available in each year of the program, with 105 seats available for Ontario residents and 15 seats for non-Canadians. The college also offers internship and residency programs as well as Diploma, MPH, MSc, PhD and DVSc programs at the graduate level. Graduate degrees are available in Biomedical Sciences, Clinical Studies, Pathobiology and Population Medicine. The college is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Current Research
The Ontario Veterinary College is a research-intensive institution that conducts research to improve the health of both animals and humans. Research is underway in every field of veterinary medicine, including food animal, companion animal and equine medicine, animal health management, infectious disease, food safety, public health and environmental health.
Food animal research focuses on the management, treatment, control and eradication of diseases as well as determining factors that affect production. Food animal research is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs through a contract with the University of Guelph. Other agencies, such as the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Pork and the Ontario Cattleman's Association also support research at OVC.
Companion animal research is funded by the OVC Pet Trust Fund, a charity dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of companion animals. Researchers explore better methods for pain control, anesthesia and surgery in pets and investigate ways to diagnose disease and treat cancer. They also look at novel areas such as veterinary-client communication.
OVC's research benefits human health through studies in public health, cancer and translational medicine. Public health has long been a main focus of the OVC with research at the human-animal-environmental interface looking into zoonotic diseases such as West Nile virus, food safety topics including E. coli and other public health issues like antimicrobial resistance. OVC is the home of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, an agency that facilitates research, education and knowledge dissemination in public health and zoonotic disease. The OVC is active in ecosystem health, with several international projects underway in Nepal and the western Amazon lowlands.
OVC uses a unique integrated approach to improve the understanding and treatment of cancer in animals and humans. The OVC houses the Animal Cancer Centre and the Institute for Comparative Cancer Investigation (ICCI). The ICCI provides comprehensive cancer care for companion animals and studies the biology of cancer. Over 30 cancer investigators from over a dozen departments across the University of Guelph collaborate across the fields of cancer biology, veterinary medicine, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, toxicology, psychology and many other areas.
OVC also focuses on translational medicine with research that develops animal models for the investigation of human disease. The Laboratory for Translational Biomedical Discovery is a new facility that contains surgical and laboratory space to study both small and large animals as models for human disease.
More information is available at The OVC Research page
Clinical Services
The OVC Teaching Hospital provides medical and surgical care for small and large animals, while training veterinary students in a clinical environment. The Teaching Hospital is a referral hospital and treats approximately 16,000 animals of companion, equine, domestic farm and exotic species each year. The Field Services Clinic provides services for ruminant and swine farms throughout the region. The Teaching Hospital is an important component of the college, providing learning opportunities as well as advancing the field of veterinary medicine through clinically-based research and clinical service.
The Hill's Primary Healthcare Centre is a new addition to the OVC and opened in 2010 with funding from Hill's Pet Food and the Ontario government. The new facility is designed as a stand-alone veterinary hospital for routine vaccinations, spays and neuters and other wellness visits. It is designed to provide students educational experiences in all aspects of primary health care, including surgical and technical skills, business and communication skills, preventive medicine, nutrition and animal welfare and behaviour.
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