Student and Institutional Achievements during an OIE Veterinary Education Twinning Project Collaboration between
Tesfaalem T Sebhatu1, Rudovick Kazwala2, Derek A Mosier3
1Kansas State University.
Abstract:
This collaborative partnership aimed to enhance the quality of veterinary education at both Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (Tanzania), and Kansas State University (KSU), College of Veterinary Medicine (United States), by facilitating exchange of knowledge, experience, and ideas. One project objective was to integrate the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Guidelines on Veterinary Education Core Curriculum into the SUA education program so veterinary graduates would be equipped with the minimum competencies needed to support their National Veterinary Services (OIE Day 1 Competencies). Curriculum mapping revealed that partners addressed different OIE Day 1 Competencies to varying degrees and they had complementary strengths and weaknesses. The partners' practical and educational experiences were also complementary, providing each opportunities to learn from the other and a solid basis for long-term mutually beneficial collaboration. Through structured exchanges, the collaboration allowed SUA and KSU students and faculty to broaden their perspectives by exposing them to veterinary medicine, culture, ecosystems, teaching environments, and farming systems in each other's country. Visiting faculties and students from both universities were exposed to different livestock systems, varying dynamics at the human-livestock-wildlife interface, different teaching systems, and a veterinary profession with a different culture and focus than that in their own country. Students and faculty learned about the relative social and economic importance of different types of animal production in each country and their influence on veterinary education priorities. Partnership outcomes include a continuing professional development course at SUA for private and public sector veterinarians and a clinical club to expose students at both colleges to a broader range of clinical cases and knowledge.
