U.S.-China Joint DVM Scholarship Program
中美联合执业兽医博士奖学金项目

Kansas State University has a long history with Chinese veterinary medicine. The first Chinese DVM, Luo Qingsheng (罗清生), graduated from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1923. Following Luo Qingsheng, from 1924 to 1949, seven more Chinese students earned DVM degrees in the U.S. and Europe, and subsequently returned to China. These Chinese DVMs later became the driving force of China’s modern animal husbandry and veterinary education. Luo Qingsheng was the founding member of the veterinary school at Nanjing Agricultural University in China. Unfortunately, the U.S.-China exchanges in veterinary education were suspended from 1949 to 2012.

The U.S.-China Center for Animal Health at Kansas State University (U.S.-China Center) was established in 2010 with the mission to improve Chinese veterinary education for a “One World, One Health”. In 2012, the U.S.-China Center established the U.S.-China Joint DVM Scholarship Program through partnership with universities, government and animal industry in China and the U.S., resuming the historic U.S.-China collaboration in veterinary education at Kansas State University. The center manages the program on a daily basis.

Each year, the program recruits 4-6 top students who are junior or senior undergraduate students, or graduate students from universities in China to pursue a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in the U.S. The selected students study pre-veterinary (pre-vet) courses at KSU for a year to meet U.S. DVM admission criteria. During the pre-vet year at KSU, an advisory committee organized by the U.S.-China Center meets regularly with the students to help with their pre-vet studies, DVM program applications, as well as their life transition to the U.S. Upon meeting DVM admission criteria in the U.S., the selected students continue to study for four years in the DVM program at KSU or other U.S. universities under the coordination of the U.S.-China Center. Each selected student will receive a scholarship from the joint DVM program that covers tuition and living expenses during their five years of study in the U.S.

The terms of the U.S.-China Joint DVM Scholarship include an obligation to return to China for at least six years following the completion of DVM training and serve in China’s universities to teach veterinary medicine.

Specialized Training Opportunity

The U.S.-China Center has also established partnerships with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), University of Minnesota (UMN), Iowa State University (ISU), University of Georgia (UGA), University of California Davis (UC Davis), University of Missouri and all of the universities in China. This unique collaboration with universities, governments and animal health industry partners in the U.S. and China provides unprecedented learning opportunities for these Chinese DVM students. For the first time, they can fully understand and compare how the veterinary profession plays an important role in animal health, public health, food safety and other important social and economic areas in the two countries.

An important mission of the U.S.-China Joint DVM Scholarship Program is to train future leaders for veterinary education and the veterinary profession in China. The scholars are provided an opportunity to have summer externships at the AVMA headquarters to learn about protecting, promoting and advancing a strong veterinary profession. They also have an opportunity to participate in externships at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to learn about prevention and control of animal diseases. The U.S.-China Center has also partnered with Banfield Pet Hospital to arrange summer job experiences at Banfield hospitals. In addition, the U.S.-China Center has organized a series of leadership seminars for the program. Invited seminar speakers are leaders from colleges of veterinary medicine, animal health industries and government agencies in the U.S. and China.

The U.S.-China Center also organizes annual homecoming events for the program. Homecoming is an important learning opportunity for scholars to come together for face-to-face exchange of experiences from their classroom studies and externships at different institutions. It also helps them reconnect in their personal lives and cultivate and grow friendships that are essential for them to work as a team after they return to China. This reunion is also a great opportunity for all of the program partners to review and refine the program, while enjoying the students’ presentations and interactions with them.