BY: SAMANTHA BARTLETT, DVM
The final beam is in place to finish the frame of New Jersey’s first veterinary school on Rowan University’s West Campus. When finished, the building will be the Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine. The first students will attend class there in less than a year.
The founding Dean, Dr Matthew Edson, and the 30 people on staff are creating an innovative curriculum involving hands-on experience for students from day one. The school is set to open in August 2025. Between now and then, the school plans to hire 100 people including clinicians that will care for patients at the 24-hour teaching hospital.
The school is named in honor of J&J Snack Food Chairman Gerry Shreiber, who is donating $30 million in scholarships for the school Officials hope this will help retain students within the state who will go on to practice in New Jersey once they have graduated.
Meanwhile, Clemson University is on track with South Carolina’s first veterinary college. The founding dean, Steven Marks, comes to Clemson from North Carolina State University where he spent a long tenure as associate dean and director of veterinary medical services. As a land-grant institution, Marks says that Clemson has many of the necessary components for a thriving veterinary school.
South Carolina currently is in dire need of more veterinarians. One-third of the state’s 46 counties have five or few veterinarians. Another half have 10 or fewer veterinarians in their service area. The state needs both companion animal and livestock vets. Because of the great need for veterinarians in the state’s livestock industry, the General Assembly budgeted more than $100 million in funding for the construction of the veterinary college.
The curriculum covers two broad categories: companion animals and agricultural animals. However, the curriculum also addresses animals that fall somewhere in between. This refers to traditional livestock animals that are now being kept as pets, including chickens, goats, and cows. The program aims to help future veterinarians understand how this distinction affects the medical care they deliver.
Hands-on training will be in more of an apprenticeship style than the traditional teaching hospital. Students will learn from veterinarians performing various roles within the state. The school’s first class will aim for 80 students with 60 being from South Carolina and 20 from out of state. The projected start is just under 2 years from now, but students cannot be recruited until the school receives accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education. Marks says they expect to receive their Letter of Reasonable Assurance some time in 2025.
