Animal science at Newcastle explores all aspects of the biology of animals, developing your knowledge of the underlying scientific principles that govern how animals behave and function as well as the practical application of this knowledge.

The sound understanding of science, coupled with the critical thinking, analysis and communication skills that are developed through the course, mean you will be equipped for a wide range of careers in the animal science sector. The flexible nature of the course allows you to learn a European language or to acquire business or marketing skills, thereby increasing your options after graduation.

Many students who select the Animal Care program are actually undecided as to which specific area in the animal care field best suits them. One of the strengths of the program is that it exposes students to the wide variety of opportunities in the animal care profession. The College’s modern, on-campus veterinary clinic houses a kennel, dog training and grooming rooms and laboratory animal rooms.

Graduates of this program are prepared to demonstrate correct kennel management procedures; evaluate and modify canine behavior; perform basic grooming skills; and demonstrate proper health, safety and nutritional practices for companion animals.

Content and Outline
The aim is building capacities in the fields of animal breeding and genomics to meet the following challenges in developed and developing countries:

- increase of livestock and fish production,
while preserving the quality of
the products and the welfare of animals
-preservation of natural resources,
especially biodiversity, which become
scarcer and scarcer
- development of sustainable animal
breeding programmes that contribute
to improved livelihood of farmers and
efficient food chains
- development of sustainable breeding
programmes that contribute to the improved
health and welfare of companion
animals (including populations
in zoos and nature reserves)

EM-ABG aims to offer high quality international training, both in terms of scientific knowledge as well as in didactic skills, provided by six excellent universities (WU, the Netherlands; SLU, Sweden; UB, Norway; CAU, Germnay; BOKU, Austria; Agro Paris Tech, France). Integrating education in a joint masters programme offers the students better opportunity to specialize in a certain aspect, as well as to have access to a broad range of subjects. The main language of instruction is English.

The two-year EMABG Master’s programme consists of obligatory and optional studies, covering disciplinary and complementary subjects, as well as problem oriented studies and thesis. EMABG starts with a three-week orientation period in Wageningen (the Netherlands) jointly for all the students. Thereafter, students conduct the major part of their training at two universities of the consortium, one year at each university. Successful students are awarded two nationally recognized Master’s degrees (double degree).

Degree
European Master in Animal Breedings and Genetics

Prerequisites
EMABG is open to well motivated students who have completed a BSc or equivalent degree in animal science or related fields and have good knowledge in English, both orally and written. Knowledge in Statistics and Genetics at BSc level is a requirement. For further details about EMABG and information on application and scholarships, please visit www.emabg.eu

Future Prospects
Degree
Prerequisites
Application
Additional information
Course Schedule

FACTS
Programme scope: 2 years, 120 HEC
Next start: Uppsala 31 August 2009
Deadline for application: 15 January 2009
Number of admission places: 50
Language of instruction: English

Future Prospects
The interest for animals and their interactions with man has led to the current job market being strong in animal science. As an animal scientist you can work in consultancy, evaluation, research or product development, but there are also exciting career opportunities in teaching, information, journalism and the developing world.

Degree
Master’s degree in Animal Science

Prerequisites
Equivalent to Bachelor’s degree of 180 HEC including 90 HEC in Animal Science. Good knowledge in English, equals EngB for Swedish students.

Application
Application deadline Februari 1, 2008

The Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Science specialization emphasizes the application of physical and chemical sciences to the raising and production of beef cattle, horses, dairy cattle, swine, and companion animals.

Additionally, students will obtain both classroom instruction and real world hands-on experience with animals at the SIUC Agriculture Research and Education Laboratories.

Senior level courses in beef cattle management, swine management, dairy cattle management, and equine science assimilate knowledge and skills learned in previous courses to assist students in applying the basic sciences to real-life situations.

What facilities are at SIU?
The Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Science specialization is supported by extensive facilities for several species of livestock. Every student has the opportunity to get involved in work, research labs, or class at the 2,000 acre farm system that is the core of our animal science teaching program. The SIUC farms have special centers for:

* 75 brood cows, with cow-calf and feedlot operations
* 75 head operating dairy
* 45 head of horses for teaching, research and breeding
* 100 crossbred sow farrow-to-finish operations
* Beef Evaluation Center
* High-technology feed mill wiht micro-nutrient mixing and ration formulation.

For additional information about the animal facilities, feel free to visit the web site section on University Farms.

What are my career opportunities?
The Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Science specialization meets the needs of students planning to attend veterinary school or pursue graduate work in animal science. Students who complete this option qualify for the Bachelor of Science degree, meet the course requirements for admission to a veterinary medicine program, and acquire an excellent foundation for graduate work in animal science.

Graduates with a specialization in Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Science are prepared to: further scientific interests with a career in research, veterinary medicine, education, or biomedical industry; pursue careers in the multifaceted agribusiness industry; or work directly with beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, or horse production and management.

Introduction

Veterinary Nursing has come a long way from the previous perception that “Veterinary Nursing is a work of the heart”. It is now academically and technically challenging, extremely varied and rewarding occupation while still maintaining a caring and supportive role to animals and their owners.

Overview

The programme offers theoretical and practical education in animal structure and function, animal care and nutrition, medical and surgical nursing, theatre practice, anaesthesia, radiography, diagnostic procedures, intensive care, therapeutics emphasising the storage, handling and legislation of medications, disease and disease agents, animal welfare, business procedures and communication skills. The programme emphasises companion animals and horses but also includes small mammals, birds and production animals where appropriate.

Career opportunities

The Massey University Diploma in Veterinary Nursing is unique in New Zealand in that throughout the second year, students work alongside final year veterinary science students and clinical staff in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Massey University. The aim of this clinically-based teaching is to enable students to graduate with established practical skills that they can apply immediately in their place of employment.

The Massey University Diploma in Veterinary Nursing is one of two institutes in New Zealand that offers British equivalency by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. This means that graduates can automatically register as qualified veterinary nurses in Britain.

Veterinary nurses are increasingly important in veterinary practice, particularly in small animal (pet animal), equine and production animal practices. While veterinary practices have traditionally employed lay staff to assist in the work of the clinic in various ways, many are now seeking to employ qualified veterinary nurses to provide a much greater level of skill in the provision of specific nursing, diagnostic and client-related services.

A well-trained and qualified veterinary nurse is able expected to perform tasks such as radiography, collection and analysis of routine diagnostic samples, anaesthetic monitoring and other operating theatre duties and provide high quality nursing care to hospitalised patients in areas such as intensive care, post-operative patient management and physical therapy. An increasingly important role for veterinary nurses is in the provision of client services such as helping dog-owners to socialise their puppies and providing information on general care.

Other potential areas of employment include working as sales representatives in veterinary-related industries, kennel and cattery management and providing technical support for veterinary research.

Clinical veterinary services are of national importance in promoting the health, welfare and productivity of farm animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, deer, pigs and poultry. Developing animal industries, such as the farming of llamas, alpacas, ostriches, emus and fish require veterinary services too. Similarly, high quality veterinary care is essential for the well-being of companion animals such as dogs, cats, birds, and horses kept for leisure activities, all of which play a very important part in the well-being of the human population. Veterinarians play an important role in the horse and greyhound racing industries.

Many veterinarians are employed in government departments, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. They play a critical role in helping to ensure that exotic diseases are not brought into the country and that there are ways of dealing with them if they do enter, and in ensuring the animal products that New Zealand exports are of the standard and quality required by our overseas customers. Veterinarians are involved in the provision of diagnostic services by both the government and private laboratories.

Further employment opportunities exist for veterinarians in research institutes and universities researching animal health and disease, and the relationship between animal infections and public health. Additionally, they work in the pharmaceutical industry developing and marketing products used for the prevention and treatment of diseases in animals. Increasingly, veterinarians are employed by zoos and wildlife services as veterinary expertise becomes critical in ensuring disease control and reproductive success in captive or free-living wild animals and birds that are under threat of extinction.

The wide range of demands placed upon veterinarians means that most restrict their activities to particular aspects of veterinary science. There are also opportunities for advanced training in many clinical areas and in disciplines such as pathology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology, immunology and epidemiology, all of which are essential for the diagnosis and investigation of diseases.

Further information on career opportunities is given later in this book, but it is hoped that this will give you some idea of the scope of veterinary science. To maintain and develop these many different areas of veterinary activity, New Zealand must have a strong and progressive veterinary profession supported by a first class Veterinary Science programme at Massey University.

Career opportunities

From the papers for the BVSc programme you will see that veterinary students receive a broadly based scientific training. Because of this, once qualified, they have many avenues in which they can use their professional qualifications. About two-thirds of graduates go into veterinary practice of some type. Some go into industry and provide important scientific advisory services and may rise to senior administrative posts. Some go into the State Services, in particular the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry which employs several groups of people who deal with animal health problems, quality control of primary products and research. Important national and international administrative posts are also available in the Ministry of Agriculture. In the universities, there are research and teaching opportunities, with increasing areas of research becoming available. Other employment fields include laboratory animal management, research and teaching, wildlife medicine and conservation, and zoo medicine.

As well as being registrable in New Zealand, the Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree allows the holder to register as a veterinarian in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, and a number of other countries.

The following is a brief description of the major avenues of employment for veterinary graduates in New Zealand.

Clinical practice
All veterinarians have a professional responsibility to the community and an important part to play in the economic and social well being of the nation. The primary responsibility of veterinarians in practice is to serve the public through the provision of high quality care for the health and welfare of their animals, whether these animals are kept as pets or for leisure activities, are working animals, farm livestock, or wildlife.

Veterinary practices are distributed through the country in towns and rural areas. These may involve one veterinarian working on their own but, more commonly, several veterinarians work together. The type of practice varies according to the location. In large cities, for example, practices may deal only with companion animals such as dogs, cats and caged birds. This is commonly referred to as ‘small animal’ or ‘companion animal’ practice. In farming areas, the emphasis is on farm livestock such as cattle, sheep, deer and pigs, although other animals such as dogs, cats and horses will also be dealt with (‘large animal’ or ‘mixed’ practice). Some practices, particularly in areas where there are large numbers of horses, may deal mainly or solely with them (‘equine practice’).

Veterinarians in clinical practice in New Zealand today generally operate from well-equipped clinics containing x-ray equipment, surgery and animal hospital facilities and laboratory equipment for conducting clinical pathology. There are also private and government-run laboratories that provide diagnostic services for practitioners through the testing of samples of various kinds from their animal patients. These can be for bacteriology, parasitology, virology, pathology, biochemistry and so on. These laboratories commonly employ veterinarians with advanced training.

Clinical practice offers an interesting career with plenty of variety. Apart from other veterinary skills, it requires an ability to assess facts in investigating outbreaks of disease in order to arrive at a satisfactory diagnosis. Common sense, independence and the ability to work with people of the farming community or other animal owners are necessary. The graduate engaged in this work has ample opportunity to exercise and extend knowledge and practical skills gained during university education.

Some special characteristics of particular types of practice
Large animal (farm animal) practice
Diagnosing and treating disease in individual animals is an important part of all clinical practice and in some cases it is the major concern. In farm animal practice, however, the veterinarian has additional responsibilities centred on the flocks and herds that make up farming enterprises. Veterinarians have an important contribution to make to the productivity of these flocks and herds by assisting with the planning and development of flock and herd health programmes, monitoring the health status and production of the animals, often working in collaboration with other animal production advisers. Veterinarians in these practices also have an important part to play in national disease control and eradication schemes, in maintaining the quality of animal products in keeping a lookout for exotic diseases or pests that may be brought into the country and in ensuring and promoting animal welfare.

Equine Practice
Some private practitioners practise only in the care of horses, which makes a valuable contribution to the New Zealand economy. Success in racing requires absolute fitness and by helping to achieve this, veterinarians have significantly contributed to the outstanding reputation of New Zealand’s gallopers and trotters. They also play an important part in keeping horses that are used for other sporting and leisure activities fit and well.

Companion Animal Practice
In larger towns and cities, ample opportunity exists for restriction of practice to companion animal work including cats, dogs and other family pets. Most urban small animal practices use similar techniques to those available at a public hospital. In the field of medicine this involves the diagnosis and treatment of such widely differing diseases as diabetes, dysentery, and cancer. Abdominal, thoracic and orthopaedic surgery is routine, although some procedures require specialised equipment that not every practice may have. The use of techniques such as blood transfusion, fluid therapy and advanced procedures for repairing bone fractures are examples of skills that can be expected of a veterinarian providing surgical services. Within companion animal practice, specialisation is becoming increasingly common so that specialist veterinary ophthalmologists, dermatologists, behaviourists and surgeons accept referrals from other companion animal veterinarians.

New Zealand Food Safety Authority
This authority sets standards for food safety for exports of animal (and horticultural) products, and for meat and dairy products for domestic consumption. The NZFSA Verification Agency is a food safety assurance organisation that provides food evaluation, verification, and certification services to the food production industries. It is concerned with quality control and hygiene in meat and other animal products. This agency is the largest single employer of veterinarians in New Zealand. Many veterinarians work in meat processing establishments and are responsible for the standards of hygiene and meat inspection in meat processing establishments to ensure that meat and meat products are fit for human consumption, and can be certified for export or domestic consumption.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

There are many career opportunities for veterinarians in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Biosecurity New Zealand
This division of MAF is responsible for developing standards for the importation of animals (and plants) and for developing and ensuring that there are capabilities for managing animal and plant diseases. It also is responsible for animal export standards and for animal welfare standards within New Zealand.

Other MAF Operations
The MAF Quarantine Service protects against animal (and other) disease risks entering the country. It provides importation inspection and clearance services and export certification for animal and plant products.

The National Centre for Disease Investigation is dedicated to the diagnosis of new and emerging animal diseases, and includes the exotic disease response centre.

All of the units of MAF provide challenging career opportunities for veterinarians working as a part of a larger team, and are of great importance to New Zealand.

Veterinary Diagnostic Services

Diagnostic Services are provided by government and privately owned laboratories. Laboratories are located in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Invermay, and Christchurch. They are staffed by veterinarians, with advanced training in disciplines such as diagnostic pathology, microbiology, virology, parasitology, clinical biochemistry and haematology.

Education

An important employer of veterinary graduates is the education sector, with the Veterinary Science Programme at Massey University being the major employer in this area. Veterinary staff are responsible for most aspects of the training of BVSc undergraduates, Diploma in Veterinary Nursing students and postgraduate veterinary studies up to doctoral level.

An important aspect of the work of the staff is the conduct of research and supervision of postgraduate student research.

Crown Research Institutes

Research into animal health and production is carried out in a number of centres around the country. Animal research is conducted principally at the AgResearch Centres in Palmerston North, Ruakura, Upper Hutt and Invermay. Veterinarians play important roles in all aspects of animal research and artificial breeding and in the extension of research findings to other members of the profession and to the farming community.

Much of the animal health activity of AgResearch occurs on the Massey University campus in co-location with the Veterinary School in the Hopkirk Centre.

Research and technical services in industry

As you would expect in any economy which is so firmly based on animal production, a considerable industry exists in New Zealand to provide veterinary pharmaceuticals, feedstuffs, and other aids to the maintenance of animal health and production. This industry requires the professional skills of veterinarians, and there are posts available in such fields as technical advisory services and research. Many of these can lead to senior executive management roles.

International Veterinary Science

There are development projects for livestock industries in overseas countries. A number of veterinarians are involved in projects concerned with this development, with some projects being on a very large scale.

Other career opportunities

A veterinary degree can lead to a great diversity of other careers including employment in animal welfare, conservation biology, specialist clinic construction, animal feed formulation and manufacture, and zoological parks.

Remuneration levels for Veterinarians

Veterinarians consistently rate highly as respected members of society. A survey of the members of the New Zealand Veterinary Association conducted in 2004, reported an average salary for veterinarians up to three years after graduation to be $52,000. The same survey showed the average total remuneration for veterinarians overall to be approximately $77,000.