Australia’s first and oldest university veterinary school turns 100
Press release
27 February 2009
Next month (MARCH) marks the centenary of the opening of Australia’s first university veterinary school.
In the 100 years since the University of Melbourne’s Veterinary School was formed its staff and students have made an impact globally, carrying out groundbreaking research, performing surgical firsts and developing new vaccines and technologies that have improved the health of animals and humans.
More than 2,000 graduates have passed through its doors, including Margaret Keats MBE, Victoria’s first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree in 1923, who was added to the Victorian Roll of Honour for Women in 2008, and many, like Dr Warwick Bayly, who was recently appointed as the Provost and Executive Vice President of Washington State University.
Professor Hinchcliff said: “The success of the School can be judged by the contribution that our staff and graduates have made all over the world, enhancing animal health and welfare, improving food safety and quality, and caring for animals that provide companionship to humans.
“Members of the School have also contributed to animal and human health through prevention and control of infectious diseases such as avian and equine influenza, prevention and treatment of parasite diseases, and advances in veterinary public health and biosecurity, wool production, and food production and safety.”
Former students have entered every realm of veterinary science, whether treating pets in private practice, tackling disease or helping monitor and regulate multi-million dollar industries, such as agriculture and horse-racing.
Recent achievements by members of the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science:
- Since 1980, Professor Marshall Lightowlers has been part of a team at the University that has developed the world’s first non-living vaccine for animal parasites. Recognised as the world leader in this area, in 2008 the team secured multi-million dollar backing to develop a vaccine that could eradicate a parasite that causes epilepsy and fatal brain disease in some of the world’s poorest regions.
- During the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza, Associate Professor James Gilkerson, Head of the University’s Laboratory for Equine Infectious Diseases and former President of Equine Veterinarians Australia, was one of a group that wrote the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN) that was put into action in the days following the outbreak.
- In 2006, researchers began studying DNA from dogs to understand the genetic causes of common pet diseases, a study they hope will provide a model for combating diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis in humans.
- The first feline pacemaker to be fitted in Victoria was fitted to 15-year-old Heidi in March 2007.
- The Veterinary Clinic and Hospital based at Werribee began using recycled water in 2007 as part of its commitment to tackling climate change.
- The Veterinary School operates the Canine Blood Bank, Australia’s only registered supplier of blood cells for pets.
- In 2008 the School held Australia’s first ever White Coat Ceremony for veterinary students, which celebrates the transition of detached observers of animal health and disease in the classroom to individuals actively involved in the management of the health and well-being of animals in a clinical setting.
The Veterinary School – and associated Veterinary Research Institute – was established in Parkville by an Act of Parliament of Victoria (number 2174) on March 2, 1909. Prior to that, veterinary education took place at a private Veterinary College in Fitzroy, itself founded in 1888 following the passing of the Veterinary Surgeons Act in December 1887, the first Act passed in Australia to regulate the standards of veterinary education.
The Melbourne Veterinary School reduced its veterinary training in 1928 such that it provided only the first year of the course, after which students completed their studies at the University of Sydney. The Veterinary School continued to exist during this time but reopened in 1963 in response to requests from Victoria’s animal industries for more locally trained veterinarians. The Pre-Clinical Centre was built at the Veterinary Precinct at Parkville and work began on the Veterinary Hospital at Werribee, both opened by then Premier Henry Bolte.
Subsequent developments include the Mackinnon Project, a centre that provides undergraduate teaching, graduate training, research and consultative services to the sheep and beef cattle industries, a state-of-the-art Equine Centre that incorporates a recently added trot-up track and specialist foal facility, and the JA Gilruth Library, named after the school’s first Dean.
Professor Douglas Blood, Dean from 1963 to 1968, co-authored the first nine editions of Veterinary Medicine, a textbook covering the diseases of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and horses, which has been translated into several languages and is used in vet schools worldwide.
Professor Hinchcliff, who has continued Dr Blood’s legacy by co-authoring the ninth and tenth editions, has in recent months made a number of high profile appointments, as he looks to consolidate the School’s position as the leading veterinary school in the Southern Hemisphere.
The 110 students who graduated with bachelor degrees in Veterinary Science in 2008 – 95 of whom are female – comprised the School’s biggest class to date, a sign of the ongoing expansion since its foundation a century ago. To ensure that students have access to world-class facilities in which to apply their analytical and enquiring minds to the world’s greatest animal health problems, the School is expanding its facilities, and a state-of-the-art auditorium has recently been built at the Werribee campus, that can seat 200 students.
The University of Melbourne’s Veterinary School is continuing to provide leadership in veterinary science in Australia and across the world, by responding to the changing needs of society and the veterinary profession, as a result, in 2011 it is introducing a new professional entry graduate degree as part of the Melbourne Model – the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
Professor Hinchcliff added further: “We have achieved a lot in the last century; this is testament to the passion and dedication of the School’s teachers, researchers, and graduates. This success could not have been achieved without the support of the veterinary profession, animal industries, animal welfare organisations, the wider community, and benefactors, all of whom have contributed to our legacy in their own way.”
For further information please contact Andrea Jones, Marketing Manager, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: ajone@unimelb.edu.au