US-China joint veterinary program selects four Chinese students for pre-veterinary studies at Kansas State University
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
The selection committee for the U.S.-China joint DVM scholarship program interviews a prospective candidate. Members of the committee are, from left: Jishu Shi, director of the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health; Frank Blecha, associate dean for research at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; Tammy Beckham, dean of Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; Jared Danielson, associate dean at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; and Lei Wang, manager of education programs for the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University has selected four students to attend the university next year for pre-veterinary studies through the U.S.-China joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, or DVM, scholarship program.
The following students were selected after interviews conducted in China in July at Inner Mongolia Agricultural University: Yilei Zheng, Sichuan Agricultural University; Sichao Mao, Zhejiang University; Weihan Wang, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University; and Xinyi Xu, Nanjing Agricultural University. They were selected from an initial group of 11 junior or senior undergraduates from nine universities in China.
As participants in the U.S.-China joint DVM scholarship program, the students must complete one year of pre-veterinary studies at Kansas State University, and then may apply for admittance at Kansas State University or one of three other universities that are partners in the program: Iowa State University, University of California, Davis and University of Minnesota.
The U.S.-China joint DVM scholarship program is sponsored by Kansas State University, the China Scholarship Council, Zoetis/International Veterinary Collaboration for China, the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association and Banfield Pet Hospital. The program also partners with the American Veterinary Medical Association; U.S. Department of Agriculture; University of California, Davis; University of Minnesota; Iowa State University; and 12 agricultural universities in China. The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health coordinates the partnership and leads the program.
Since 2015, the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health has invited deans or representatives from the program partnering veterinary schools in the U.S. to participate in interviews in China. The interview committee members in July included Tammy Beckham, dean of Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; Frank Blecha, associate dean for research at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; Jared Danielson, associate dean for Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine; Jishu Shi, director of the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health; and Lei Wang, manager of education programs at the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. The students were chosen through a collective decision by the interview committee and the China Scholarship Council.
The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health also used this interview opportunity to promote veterinary education and research exchanges. Four of the committee members presented seminars at Inner Mongolia Agricultural University. Beckham talked on the role of veterinary medicine in global animal and public health; Blecha spoke about vaccine development at Kansas State University; Danielson reviewed the professional program in veterinary medical education at Iowa State University; and Wang gave an overview on the U.S.-China Joint DVM Scholarship Program at Kansas State University.
The interview trip of the Kansas State University delegation was concluded with K-State Night in Beijing with university alumni. This event was also attend by Marie Keith, a third-year student in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at Kansas State University. Keith, who is also a student in the university's Master of Public Health program, had a summer internship at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention that was arranged by the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. K-State Night was hosted by Hua Wu, a 1990s' doctoral and postdoctoral alumnus and current CEO of Sinovet, an animal health company in China.
"The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health has played an important role in building the college into a global leading institute in veterinary education," Beckham said. "The presence of international DVM students on campus and the internship in China provides great opportunities for our students to have global perspective. Our college's mission is to educate the next generation of global health leaders."
