About the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

The Faculty Today

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia has undergone tremendous changes during its 32 years of establishment. Upon establishment in 1973, the Faculty was known as Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science with three departments; Department of Animal Science that focused on animal production and pre-clinical aspect of veterinary science, Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology that focused on the paraclinical aspect and Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, which focused on clinical aspect. With the previous structure, the Faculty has established itself and was known throughout the veterinary world. Teaching and research excellence were established in animal production and diseases.

The new structure of the Faculty will maximise further the development of the Faculty, particularly in research and professional services. Since research activity has been narrowed and focused mainly on major animal diseases, the Deputy Dean (Research) will bring and add-in strength in research at the Faculty. Recent additions on the present research strength include the use of molecular techniques for detection of animal diseases, collaborative project with the Department of Veterinary Services and the Veterinary Research Institute in avian influenza virus and strengthening of research on diseases of small animal. Strengthening of research on equine diseases is under consideration.

Professional services to the public and establishment of a referral centre for private practitioners were rather slow during the previous Faculty set-up. The new structure will hopefully enhance the professional services to the public through the appointment of the Deputy Dean (Hospital). With the transfer of the animal science component of the Faculty to the Faculty of Agriculture in January 1999, attention is shifted to the UVH, better veterinary services to the public and development of professional services. The very first step towards that was the establishment of the University Veterinary Hospital (UVH). Through UVH a better service to the public, better student training and enhancement of research activities are anticipated.

The Faculty received the ISO 9001 certification on 7 July 2000 marking it the first higher education institution in the nation to receive certification in teaching, research and professional services. With the ISO 9001 certification, the management of the Faculty will be further enhanced. In line to the era of globaisation and to remain relevant and credible in our core business the Faculty is active pursuing activities for the accreditation of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programme and ISO 17250 accreditation for some of the laboratory testing services.