Evaluation of Undergraduate Veterinary Training

DIRECTIVE 2005/36/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications

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Section 5
VETERINARY SURGEONS

Article 38
The training of veterinary surgeons

1. The training of veterinary surgeons shall comprise a total of at least five years of full-time theoretical and practical study at a university or at a higher institute providing training recognised as being of an equivalent level, or under the supervision of a university, covering at least the study programme referred to in Annex V, point 5.4.1.
   The content listed in Annex V, point 5.4.1 may be amended in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 58(2) with a view to adapting it to scientific and technical progress. Such updates may not entail, for any Member State, any amendment of its existing legislative principles relating to the structure of professions as regards training and conditions of access by natural persons.
2. Admission to veterinary training shall be contingent upon possession of a diploma or certificate entitling the holder to enter, for the studies in question, university establishments or institutes of higher education recognised by a Member State to be of an equivalent level for the purpose of the relevant study.
3. Training as a veterinary surgeon shall provide an assurance that the person in question has acquired the following knowledge and skills:
• adequate knowledge of the sciences on which the activities of the veterinary surgeon are based;
• adequate knowledge of the structure and functions of healthy animals, of their husbandry, reproduction and hygiene in general, as well as their feeding, including the technology involved in the manufacture and preservation of foods corresponding to their needs;
• adequate knowledge of the behaviour and protection of animals;
• adequate knowledge of the causes, nature, course, effects, diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of animals, whether considered individually or in groups, including a special knowledge of the diseases which may be transmitted to humans;
• adequate knowledge of preventive medicine;
• adequate knowledge of the hygiene and technology involved in the production, manufacture and putting into circulation of animal foodstuffs or foodstuffs of animal origin intended for human consumption;
• adequate knowledge of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the subjects listed above;
• adequate clinical and other practical experience under appropriate supervision.

V.4. VETERINARY SURGEON

5.4.1. Study programme for veterinary surgeons

The programme of studies leading to the evidence of formal qualifications in veterinary medicine shall include at least the subjects listed below. Instruction in one or more of these subjects may be given as part of, or in association with, other courses.

A. Basic subjects

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Animal biology
• Plant biology
• Biomathematics

B. Specific subjects

a. Basic sciences:

• Anatomy (including histology and embryology)
• Physiology
• Biochemistry
• Genetics
• Pharmacology
• Pharmacy
• Toxicology
• Microbiology
• Immunology
• Epidemiology
• Professional ethics

b. Clinical sciences:

• Obstetrics
• Pathology (including pathological anatomy)
• Parasitology
• Clinical medicine and surgery (including anaesthetics)
• Clinical lectures on the various
• domestic animals, poultry and other
• animal species
• Preventive medicine
• Radiology
• Reproduction and reproductive disorders
• Veterinary state medicine and public health
• Veterinary legislation and forensic medicine
• Therapeutics
• Propaedeutics

c. Animal production:

• Animal production
• Animal nutrition
• Agronomy
• Rural economics
• Animal husbandry
• Veterinary hygiene
• Animal ethology and protection

d. Food hygiene

• Inspection and control of animal foodstuffs or foodstuffs of animal origin
• Food hygiene and technology
• Practical work (including practical work in places where slaughtering and processing of foodstuffs takes place)

Practical training may be in the form of a training period, provided that such training is full-time and under the direct control of the competent authority, and does not exceed six months within the aggregate training period of five years study. The distribution of the theoretical and practical training among the various groups of subjects shall be balanced and coordinated in such a way that the knowledge and experience may be acquired in a manner which will enable veterinary surgeons to perform all their duties.