College of Veterinary Medicine collaboration selects four Chinese students for veterinary medical degree
Friday, May 1, 2015
The selection committee for the U.S.-China Joint DVM Program interviews a prospective candidate. Members of the committee, from left, are Lei Wang, manager of education programs for the U.S.- China Center for Animal Health; Jishu Shi, director of the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health; Ralph Richardson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University; Sean Owens, associate dean at the University of California, Davis; and Qijing Zhang, associate dean at Iowa State University. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Four Chinese students have been selected to take their pre-veterinary studies at Kansas State University in the fall through the U.S.-China Joint DVM Program, a collaboration involving the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health in the university's College of Veterinary Medicine.
The students were selected after interviews were conducted in China in early March.
"For the first time in this program, we invited representatives from the University of California, Davis and Iowa State University to assist us in interviewing the Chinese students," said Ralph C. Richardson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "Each interview lasted about 45 minutes, so each of us had a chance to ask questions to help identify the students who will have the best chance of succeeding in one of our Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree programs."
The admitted students are Zhe Wang from Nanjing Agricultural University; Xiaotong Wu from China Agricultural University; Feng Yu from North-West A&F University; and Yipping Zhu from South China Agricultural University. They were selected from an initial group of 14 junior or senior undergraduates from eight agricultural universities in China who applied to the program. Other universities represented included Huazhong Agricultural University, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Zhejiang University and Northeast Agricultural University. Nine of the 14 applicants were selected for the interviews based on their GPAs, English proficiency testing and GRE graduate school entry exam scores, as well as their application essays and school recommendation.
The finalists were interviewed at the South China Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine by a five-member committee, which included Richardson; Jishu Shi, director of the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health; Lei Wang, manager of education programs for the U.S.- China Center for Animal Health; Sean Owens, associate dean at UC Davis, and Qijing Zhang, associate dean at Iowa State University. The students were chosen through a collective decision by the interview committee and the China Scholarship Council.
The students selected for the U.S.-China Joint DVM degree program must complete one year of pre-veterinary studies at Kansas State University, and then they may apply for admittance at Kansas State University or one of the three other universities that are partners in the program: Iowa State University, UC Davis and University of Minnesota.
So far, 12 students from China have been sent to Kansas State University for pre-veterinary studies, and six of those students are now in the first or second year of their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs. Four students are at Kansas State University and two are at the University of Minnesota. Another six students are at Kansas State University for pre-veterinary studies and will enroll in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs at Kansas State University, University of Minnesota or Iowa State University in the fall.
The first group of students in the program will graduate in 2017. Upon receiving their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees, the Chinese students will return to China to serve the animal health community. To help the students after they graduate, Shi and Wang visited Ming Wang, vice president of the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association to discuss the potential career opportunities in China for the future graduates of the U.S.-China Joint DVM Program. Currently, the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health and Chinese Veterinary Medical Association are developing new initiatives to help the students find desirable jobs in China upon their graduation.
