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This article was published in 1961
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INSTITUTE OF INSPECTORS OF STOCK OF N.S.W. YEAR BOOK.
Veterinary Education at Sydney University
Professor D. McFARLANE, Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney
The shape of a Veterinary Course is largely determined by—
- International trends in education.
- The type of graduate aimed at.
- The teaching policies.
- Post-Graduate training facilities.
International Trends in Education
One trend seems clear and has been crystallised, at the recent F.A.O. meeting in London on Veterinary Education. The courses of instruction at most Veterinary Schools are becoming more and more clearly divided into two parts. In the first three years the undergraduate receives a sound basic training in the sciences fundamental to the future development of the student into a practitioner in one or more of the many avenues of employment open to him. These subjects are very similar in all parts of the world. Chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, zootechny, physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, embryology, histology, pharmacology, and animal husbandry, and in some cases pathology and bacteriology, are the subjects in this group. The final two years are devoted to the principles of medicine, surgery and animal husbandry with, in some cases pathology and bacteriology given mainly in the fourth year. For part of the fourth year and most of the fifth year an attempt is made to integrate the subjects of animal husbandry and medicine and apply the same basic knowledge to the prevention and cure of disease and to improving animal production.
In Sydney we have been in the forefront of this development. Our first three years give a very sound training in the basic sciences. The purchase and progressive development of the University Farms at Camden and the building of a strong department of Animal Husbandry by Professor Robinson will ensure, when the Department of Veterinary Medicine is established there next year, that the necessary integration of courses will be possible.
The Type of Graduate aimed at
It is accepted in Sydney and in most other Veterinary Schools that the aim of the course is to train students who, on graduation, will be broadly trained and capable with post-graduate experience and training, of entering such diverse occupations as practitioners in urban dairying or pastoral areas, research and field officers in the Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Inspectors under the Pastures Protection Boards, research workers and teachers.
Our graduates must receive training courses in disease control, nutrition, breeding and management of dogs, cats, horses, dairy cattle, pigs, sheep, beef cattle and poultry and, in addition, a course in preventive medicine to enable them to handle the important duties of keeping diseases out of the country, limiting the spread and ultimately eliminating the major scourges within. A serious problem confronting the teacher is to allocate limited time to the various aspects just mentioned in a balanced way which can be clearly stated and sufficiently flexible to meet changing demands. In the subjects of medicine, surgery and preventive medicine I have allocated the time largely on the basis of the proportions of our profession employed servicing the various species; however, considerable weight has been given to the economic importance of the species to the country.
The majority of our graduates are practitioners — (a) in urban areas servicing mainly dogs, cats and horses; (b) closely settled rural areas servicing the dairy industry; (c) few practice in pastoral areas and as poultry practitioners. The Department of Agriculture and the Pastures Protection Boards are large employers, and with more attractive jobs, would have many more veterinarians doing this essential work. Teaching, Research and Industry are the smallest, although still an important group of employers.
It is clear from the above that the course must allocate substantial time to teaching in the Urban and closely settled rural groups to meet the current and growing demand for practitioners while, on the other hand, the importance of Government and allied services and of our pastoral and poultry industries must not be overlooked. I hope and believe that in the following allocation of time a satisfactory balance has been obtained, but, and this is highly important, time allocation is and will remain highly flexible so that major changes in the demand for Veterinary service will be reflected rapidly in a changed distribution of time allocated to each subject.
YEARS 4-5 (Times are a close approximation)
| Hours | % 1700 Hours | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dog, cat, horse | 200 | 11.8 | |
| Dairy | 200 | 11.8 | |
| Pastoral | 150 | 8.8 | |
| Poultry | 75 | 4.4 | |
| Preventive | 75 - 700 | 41.2% | 4.4 |
| Surgery | 300 | 17.6 | |
| Animal Husbandry | 500 | 29.4 | |
| Bacteriology | 200 - 1700 | 100% | 11.8 |
| Urban, (Dog, cat, horse & surgery) | 500 | 29.4 | |
| Rural (Dairy, Pastoral, Poultry, & Preventive) | 500 | 29.4 | |
| Animal Husbandry | 500 | 29.4 | |
| Bacteriology | 200 - 1700 | 100% | 11.8 |
| Clinical | 1000 | 58.8 | |
| Animal Husbandry | 500 - 1500 | 88.2% | 29.4 |
| Surgery | 300 | 17.6 | |
| Medicine Obst. Infertility & Preventive Medicine | 700-1000 | 57% | 41.2 |
Figures given in this way can be very misleading. For example, Preventive Medicine has 4.4% of the time and Pastoral 8.8%. This seems too little but it must be remembered that the principles of medicine and surgery taught in the 4th year are an essential basis and extremely important for dealing with farm animals. Much of the teaching in Dairy Cows applies to Beef Cattle and all the training in pastoral animals is basic training for those practising preventive medicine in sheep and beef cattle areas.
Teaching Policies:
In different teaching centres the teaching of disease control in eight species is generally approached in two ways. The traditional approach is to teach subjects or disciplines and within each subject deal with all animals. A more recent modification is to teach partly by disciplines and partly by species and this is the current system in Sydney. Initially in the 4th year the principles of surgery, radiology, anaesthesia, (Dr. Larsen), clinical medicine Mr. Steel), and obstetrics (Mr. McClure), are taught as the essential fundamentals of the course to follow.
Surgery is treated as a fundamental discipline and is taught as such, all species being handled by Dr. Larsen's Surgery Division. In medicine, a species approach has been developed and once the fundamental courses have been given a series of lectures in the fourth year on the diseases, obstetrics and infertility of the horse (Mr. Steel), dog (Mr. Keep) and cat (Mrs. Aizstrauts) are completed.
In the final year which we hope will be in residence at Camden for the full academic year by 1963, a series of courses on the diseases, infertility and obstetrics of dairy cattle and pigs in Term I (Messrs. McClure, Hutchins, Hyne and Miss Glanville), Beef Cattle and Sheep in Term II (McFarlane), Poultry and Preventive Medicine in Term III.
The training progresses from a detailed study of the individual of high economic and social value to the less valuable dairy cow, who nevertheless still merits individual as well as herd treatment and thence to the beef cattle herds, sheep and poultry flocks where the individual is of lesser and ultimately virtually no importance, but where the problems of herd and flock health and production are of paramount importance. It is only at this stage that a student, in my view, is well enough prepared to be taught the principles of preventive and state medicine. In the flock and herd animals in particular the teaching has a strong ecological basis, diseases are considered in relation to the age of the animal and the time of the year. Every endeavour is being made to integrate husbandry subjects in the belief that disease control plus animal husbandry equals animal production.
Post-Graduate Training:
First class post-graduate training is available in the Departments of Physiology, Pathology, Animal Husbandry, Surgery and Urban Medicine. Effective post-graduate training in Dairy Cattle, Beef Cattle, Sheep and Preventive Medicine must await the completion of buildings at Camden in 1962, and the creation of an appointment in the field of Preventive Medicine. I am very anxious to see the strength of officers of the Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Inspectors of the Pastures Protection Boards built up. This is not an easy problem and will be solved only if attacked from every angle. Recruiting must continue to be active, conditions of appointment, opportunities for promotion, facilities for working, superannuation, sick leave, assistance with housing and education are all important but most important the salary structure must be competitive.
At the University the subject of preventive medicine must cease to be a Cinderella and be taught in such a way that it will attract and hold the interest of that group of students whose bias is towards livestock health and production. At a Post-Graduate level advanced training in Preventive or State medicine should be available for selected officers and finally a series of short refresher courses should be run specifically for Veterinary Officers and Inspectors.
The Veterinary Faculty appreciates well the part it has to play and will implement the above stated policies as soon as a senior appointment can be made in the field of Preventive Medicine. In the present phase of rapid expansion in student numbers a senior position in Preventive Veterinary Medicine would be unlikely to receive a high priority and without assistance from outside sources may hold up the implementation of the above policies.