The University of Calgary veterinary school can start accepting students next fall.
Approval was received from the Alberta ministry of advanced education and a letter of reasonable assurance was granted from the Council on Education representing the Canadian and American Veterinary Medical Associations.
Both approvals were required before the school could accept students into the new program.
The school plans to accept 30 Alberta students per year.
Led by dean Alastair Cribb, the school continues to hire faculty and has about 30 people from an international recruitment drive. Another 35 to 40 people are needed to round out the program. The university approved a program last week to help new teaching staff find homes in a city where the vacancy rate is less than one percent.
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“Our salaries will be appropriate for the cost of living in Calgary,” said Cribb.
Construction also continues on the campus site and at a clinical facility on the northwestern side of the city.
“At this point I am trying to decide if we are on schedule,” he said.
The school offers a program that integrates clinical and hands-on learning with basic knowledge throughout the curriculum. Students will engage in off-campus studies in all semesters with the majority of the final year spent working with private veterinarians across Alberta.
Research projects worth about $6 million are also underway, many in collaboration with other bodies like Agriculture Canada and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. Projects include studies into mastitis, bull fertility, heaves in horses, Johne’s disease, climate change and its impacts on wildlife and comparative joint and bone health.
