Veterinary Medicine

I

Introduction

Veterinary Medicine, the branch of medical science concerned with the health of animals and the treatment, in terms of prevention, cure, and alleviation, of injuries or diseases that affect them. This discipline embraces various subjects, including anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, immunology, pharmacology, pathology, animal health, surgery, obstetrics, therapeutics, veterinary jurisprudence, food hygiene, and veterinary hygiene.

II

Historical Perspective

Egyptian hieroglyphics dating from c. 3500 bc show the presence of numerous types of animal, and historical evidence in China, c. 4000-3000 bc, records the use of herbs for curative effects; but animal healing is thought to have begun in Mesopotamia, c. 3000 bc, with the first known veterinarian, Urlugaledinna. The Greek scientist Alcmaeon was the first person to dissect animals for scientific purposes, c. 500 bc, while the first animal hospitals were established c. 273-232 bc during the reign of King Ashoka in the Brahman era of Indian history. However, the first veterinary school in the world was not established until ad 1762 by Claude Bourgelat in Lyons and this led to the foundation of a number of veterinary teaching establishments in the 1770s in Sweden, Hanover (Germany), Denmark, and Vienna (Austria).

The occurrence of numerous infectious diseases in animals has been reported throughout the ages, including, in 1494, the first description of the occurrence of sheep pox by François Rabelais. Later, in 1711, Giovanni Mario Lancisi first diagnosed rinderpest, the contagious cattle viral disease, in a European outbreak, but only a year later Bernardino Ramazzini vaccinated against the cattle plague. Friedrich August Johannes Löffler, in collaboration with P. Frosch, discovered, in 1898, the viral pathogen for foot-and-mouth disease that forms vesicular eruptions in the mouth and feet of cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. Slow virus infections such as scrapie have been known to exist for over a century; this spongiform degenerative disease of the brain can incubate in sheep for many years before symptoms of itching and tremors develop. Comparisons of this disease have been made with the more recently discovered bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or “mad cow disease” that affects the nervous system of cattle.

III

Education

To practice veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom, students have to complete a five-year course that includes two years of preclinical training in basic veterinary sciences—to provide an understanding of the functioning of the healthy animal—and three years of clinical and clinical-related courses. Practical work is fundamental to veterinary training, providing a thorough grounding in skills as diverse as animal examination and sheep farming. Work experience may also involve time spent in clinical practices, or on approved farms, livestock units, or domestic animal establishments. Set periods of time divided into cycles are devoted to clinical rotation work in clinical practices. Experience of large animal practices for farm animals and horses is also required. Students can choose optional subjects to gain specialized knowledge in a certain area; such subjects include equine studies, small animal clinical studies, and clinical pharmacology.

There are approximately 16,400 registered members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) who have qualified from universities in the United Kingdom or overseas. The RCVS was founded by Royal Charter, in 1844, as a governing body of the veterinary profession to ensure that educational and ethical standards, required by law, were being maintained.

Graduate veterinarians may choose to specialize in a specific area of veterinary medicine, such as veterinary dermatology, veterinary ophthalmology, or small animal orthopaedics. Diplomas and Certificates are awarded by the RCVS, to signify that specialist training has been acquired.

IV

Veterinary General Practice

Practices range from a single veterinarian, popularly known as a vet, in a practice to a large unit that employs anaesthetists, radiologists, and surgeons. A practice may cover urban and rural areas, which means that a veterinarian may have to treat farm animals, domestic pets, and even zoo animals. In general, country practices are concerned with: preventative medicine in flocks and herds; treating individual animals; the spread and control of disease; and advising on animal health matters such as genetic and nutritional problems. Urban practices tend to treat more sick pets, offer preventative medicine, and give advice on animal health.