December 4, 2018
U.S.-China Center for Animal Health welcomes new sponsor for scholarship program
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Grant Chapman, associate provost for international programs at Kansas State University, and Du Yuanzhao, general manager/president of Yebio, sign a new memorandum of understanding to fund pre-veterinary tuition and activities for five students to attend K-State. They are joined by several VIPs who are participating in K-State's U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program. |
An international partnership between Kansas State University and China is taking new steps forward to promote veterinary educational opportunities for Chinese students to attend college in the U.S.
A group of faculty members from Kansas State University recently attended the Veterinary Education Forum at Nanjing Agricultural University in China for K-State's U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program. The K-State representatives included Grant Chapman, associate provost for international programs; Jishu Shi, director of the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health in K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine; and Lei Wang, manager of the education programs for the U.S.-China Center.
The conference was organized by the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health and Nanjing Agricultural University, and was sponsored by the Qingdao Yebio Bioengineering Company and Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, China Ministry of Education.
Representatives also attended the conference from schools that partner with Kansas State University in the U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program: Trevor Ames, dean, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine; Patrick Gorden, chairman of the admissions committee and director of Food Supply Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine; and Harry Dickerson, associate dean for research, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.
The conference was attended by more than 100 people, including deans of 14 Chinese veterinary schools, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduates of the U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program, senior executives of Yebio, and faculty and students of the Nanjing Agricultural University.
"The Nanjing Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine has a long history with Kansas State University," said Dong Wenchun, vice president, Nanjing Agricultural University. "It will be 100 years next year since Dr. Luo Qingsheng, the first Chinese Doctor of Veterinary Medicine recipient and the founder of our veterinary school, entered Kansas State University to study veterinary medicine in 1919. It is significant and memorable for our school to be chosen to host this conference."
The conference was highlighted by a signing ceremony for a new memorandum of understanding for the U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Scholarship Program between K-State and Qingdao Yebio. Under the memorandum, Qingdao Yebio will support the U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Scholarship Program by funding pre-veterinary tuition and activities for five students.
The U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Scholarship Program provides for one year of pre-veterinary study at Kansas State University and four years of veterinary study at either K-State or at one of the four partnering schools: University of Minnesota, Iowa State University, University of Georgia and University of California, Davis.
The program was initiated by the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health, China Agricultural University and Chinese Veterinary Medical Association, and has been financially sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, Kansas State University, Zoetis/the International Veterinary Collaboration for China and Banfield Pet Hospital. The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health has been leading the program since it was launched in 2012.
"Kansas State University has a well-advanced, structured and standardized veterinary education system with rich experiences, and has trained numerous veterinarians for China," said Du Yuanzhao, general manager/president of YEBIO. "The Qingdao YEBIO-K-State joint efforts on the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program would address the great needs of China by training professional veterinary practitioners, and accelerating the development of veterinary education in China."
"We value the partnership between the academic and industry, particularly in the animal health field as a way serving the great society and the community," Chapman said.
The U.S.-China Joint Doctor of Veterinary Program has graduated five Chinese students since 2017. All of the graduates have been recruited as associate professors at universities in China following their graduations in the U.S., which is unprecedented in China. The four Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduates from the class of 2017 — Yaoqin Shen and Yi Ding, associate professors at Huanzhong University, and Jing Li and Bo Liu, associate professors at China Agricultural University — shared at the conference what they have learned in the U.S. and their teaching experiences in China.
"This conference provides a great opportunity for deans of veterinary schools in the U.S. and China and D.V.M. graduates from our program to share their experiences and thoughts about veterinary education in China, which can be used as guidance for future Chinese veterinary education reform," Shi said. "We are so glad to see graduates of the joint Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program have already made visible impacts in China."