The College of Veterinary Medicine has opened at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. It is the first college of veterinary medicine to open in Southern California and the first in the USA in over 20 years.
The new college has a unique mission as it begins to train veterinarians to fill the growing need for pet and animal care professionals in California. ''We did the research, found an unmet need for more veterinarians, and in the entrepreneurial spirit that has been part of the foundation of this university, we found the right people to help make this college a reality,'' commented Philip Pumerantz, president of Western University.
University officials and leaders from the American Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association joined together in March 2002 to provide the College of Veterinary Medicine with a new teaching facility designed to meet the needs of the problem-based learning curriculum. The building has been completed and is now occupied by the faculty and staff. Major donors have provided much of the funding to help found the college.
In April 2003, the American Veterinary Medical Association's Council on Education (COE) granted the Western University College of Veterinary Medicine provisional accreditation status. This status may be maintained for a period of up to five years, by which time full accreditation must be achieved. The COE maintains oversight of program quality by reviewing semiannual reports on compliance with accreditation standards, and by conducting site visits, which will be scheduled at Western University in the autumn of 2004 and the spring of 2007.
The First Class Classes began on 11 August with 86 students. Most of the class members are California residents, with the balance coming from seven other states. Mirroring the national trend in student demographics, women outnumber men in the class.
Dr. Shirley D. Johnston is the founding dean of the college and the only woman dean of a veterinary college in the USA. Johnston said, ''Our college is founded on commitments to student-centered learning, a reverence-for-life philosophy, and strategic partnerships and alliances.''
The goal of the ''Reverence for Life'' founding philosophy is to engender compassion and respect for all living things throughout the veterinary medical education experience. This will occur through: respectful interpersonal and interspecies interactions; the fact that animals will not be harmed in this curriculum; and the requirement that students master veterinary medical principles and clinical skills using models before applying those skills to living animals.
The College's Willed deceased Animals for Veterinary Education (WAVE) program gives pet and animal owners the opportunity to donate their deceased animals to veterinary education at the university. The WAVE program is the soul source of animal specimens used in the college's anatomy, surgery, and clinical skills courses. The exact use of the donations is dependent on the donor's wishes, the inherent value of the animal and the respective legal restrictions. All donations to the WAVE program must have died or been euthanized due to serious illness or injury. Animals without owners that are euthanized to combat over-population issues are not accepted. At present, the WAVE program is in need of donations from wildlife species.