The Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) major is delivered over six years of intensive study and emphasises the acquisition and development of the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council’s standards and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon’s competencies. The BVM major inculcates professional attitudes and provides the theoretical and practical skills required to commence work as a veterinary surgeon in private practice, public health or government service.

The Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (“JCC”) is established by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. The latter is one of the top two veterinary colleges in the world. JCC is on track to becoming the first internationally recognised veterinary college in Asia and to produce graduates who are qualified to work in all developed economies in the world.

The number of credit units required to complete the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme is 252 credit units. These are distributed through 12 semesters (i.e. 6 years) each of 21 credit units. The maximum study period is 8 years. The requirements of international accreditation and the study themes tailored for the Asian veterinary environment mean that all students study the same courses constituting the 252-credit-unit programme. Although it is not required for graduation, students can choose to undertake additional studies up to a maximum credit limit of 273 units.

There are also curricular milestones. These are compulsory requirements, not affiliated with particular courses, that must be satisfactorily completed before a student can advance in the programme. These are:

• An International English Language Testing System overall band score of 7 and 7 in each category prior to commencing the third year of the programme;
• the satisfactory completion of Pre-EMS Animal Handling Skills (VM 1001 Pre-EMS Animal Handling Skills) prior to commencing Animal Husbandry Extra-mural Studies (EMS);
• The satisfactory completion of 12 weeks of Animal Husbandry EMS (VM 1002 Animal Husbandry Extra-mural Studies) during the Summer Terms and/ or teaching breaks prior to commencing the third year of the programme;
• The satisfactory completion of 26 weeks of Clinical EMS (VM 1003 Clinical Extra-mural Studies) during the Summer Terms and/or teaching breaks prior to graduation; and
• The satisfactory completion of a register of veterinary skills prior to graduation.

The curriculum was designed with five objectives:

• To include the curriculum of the four-year Cornell University veterinary medicine programme
• To include the pre-requisites of the Cornell veterinary medicine programme
• To meet the accreditation standards set by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council
• To meet the CityU’s Gateway Education requirements
• To include courses of particular relevance in East, Southeast, and South Asia and arranged in themes:
• Animal Welfare
• Aquatic Animal Health
• Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Food Safety