Center for Public & Corporate Veterinary Medicine (CPCVM)

Although the traditional responsibilities of diagnosing, preventing, and treating diseases of food, companion, and sporting animals will continue to be of major importance, veterinarians, particularly those with post-doctoral training, have very broad fields of employment opportunities. Nearly 25% of the nation's veterinarians have careers in areas other than private practice. Collectively, this broad area may be called Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. Through the assistance of a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine established a Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine (CPCVM). This Center has become a national resource to train veterinary students and graduate veterinarians for career opportunities within this broad area of the profession. It currently is staffed by a director, a clerkship leader, a career advisor, and an administrative assistant who work with students to advise and assist them in all aspects of the profession to determine which facet of veterinary medicine will best help them achieve their goals and ambitions.

The activities of the Center play a vital role in introducing veterinary students to the myriad of career opportunities available to them following graduation. The Center is developing programs to provide post-doctoral training to veterinarians who wish to specialize in a given area or who wish to make a career redirection. It is expected that employment opportunities in the public sector of the profession will continue to expand. Examples of these employment opportunities include:

Academic institutions
Federal, state, and local governments
Industrial corporations (pharmaceutical and biological companies and contracting laboratories)
International organizations in the United States and overseas
Non-profit institutions (research institutes, zoos, primate centers, and humane societies)

These organizations employ veterinarians in a wide range of disciplines, such as administration, animal welfare, aquatic medicine, behavioral research, biomedical research, comparative medicine, environmental medicine, epidemiology, food quality and safety, immunology, laboratory animal medicine, medical computing sciences, microbiology, nutrition research, pathology, public health, regulatory medicine, toxicology, tropical medicine, and wildlife management. Veterinary medicine truly is a profession with wide-ranging opportunities. Those who desire to become a part of the profession must be prepared to anticipate and to adapt to society's changing needs. Exciting and fulfilling careers await those who are prepared to meet the challenge. The Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine is the national resource for educational opportunities other than fee-for-service clinical practice.

In addition, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine have combined to offer a unique learning experience in Science, Politics and Animal Health Policy. This executive fellowship’s three modules are designed to be interactive and participatory, engaging fellows in current animal health and veterinary issues and honing skills that apply to a variety of situations in public or private veterinary medicine.

For more information, contact Vetmed

Last updated: 10/11/2006