Life Science hopes for vet thumbs up

The vets out in Frederiksberg may, or may not, be on par with the rest of Europe.

A European team of evaluators will tell them so next week after reviewing a progress report just released by the faculty.

The European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) will be touring five departments delivering veterinary training to students to find out whether the veterinary programme at the University of Copenhagen is moving forward. The visit and evaluation may result in an official accreditation of the programme – an approval that would open doors throughout Europe for Danish veterinary students.

»It’s a huge task to convince governments that it doesn’t matter whether you’re educated at a German university or a Danish university as it should give the same professional result whether you are accredited according to a Danish, a European or an American system«, said Hans Henrik Dietz, head of the Department of Large Animal Sciences. »We can accomplish this with continued close contact and more and more working together with the goal of harmonizing the basic rules of accreditations«.

»We can accomplish this with continued meetings and more and more working together to harmonize the basic rules of accreditation«.

An effective exchange

In the report, one criticism of the programme is that it does not attract international students, mainly because classes are not offered in English. With the introduction of courses in English in 2012, the department expects an influx of internationals.

»If we want Danish students to study abroad we must also accept foreign students«, Dietz says. »It’s simply a matter of reciprocity«.

Another step towards attracting more international students is the department’s collaboration with a North American accreditation team this year. Accreditation from the team would allow Danish vet students the option to participate in the American market in addition to the European market.

A better home base

For the time being, however, the evaluation is to primarily enhance the Copenhagen programme and inspire better performance from department teachers, Dietz says.

»The evaluation improves the faculty because the comments are very valuable«, he says. »Some of the details are extremely important for improving the study and our curriculum«.

Evaluations are conducted every 10 years. This year’s evaluation and visit is accompanied by two self evaluation reports, available here and here.

In addition, students and employees will also have the opportunity to meet with EAEVE this Thursday, 30 September from 12 to 12:45 in room D4, Nordre Sti at the Frederiksberg campus.

uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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