What is the Cooperative Veterinary Education Program between Hokkaido University School of Veterinary Medicine and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine

Veterinary education system in Japan has been relatively small in scale compared to that of European and North American countries. This means we cannot provide veterinary education what is internationally acceptable by the standard of Europe and the United States. and this could eventually lead to a loss of international trust in Japanese veterinary medicine and veterinarians. In order to solve this problem, the School of Veterinary Medicine at Hokkaido University and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine established a joint veterinary education system named VetNorth Japan (VNJ) in 2012 that combines the characteristics and strengths of both universities. Hokkaido University has strengths in education and research in companion animal medicine, infectious diseases, and life sciences, while Obihiro University has strengths in education and research in production animal medicine and food safety. By combining the strengths of the two universities, we established a veterinary education system with a scale of more than 100 faculty members, which will be the best in Japan. Students will enter either Hokkaido University or Obihiro University after taking the entrance examinations of the corresponding university, but the specialized education will be conducted under one educational program, the Cooperative Veterinary Education Program. As students from the two universities conduct clinical training for companion animals at Hokkaido University and clinical training for production animals at Obihiro University, students from the two universities will travel back and forth between the two campuses while conducting their veterinary education. Faculty members will also travel between the two campuses to provide lectures. This is one of the features of the program, which involves substantial movement of faculty and students. Upon graduation, students will receive a diploma jointly signed by the President of Hokkaido University and the President of Obihiro University. In 2019, the Cooperative Veterinary Education Program was fully accredited by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE), which means that our veterinary education program is internationally acceptable by the standard of Europe and the United States.

Cooperative Veterinary Education Program between Hokkaido University and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Cooperative Veterinary Education Program schedule for year course

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