February 1^st  2018 - The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine and animal health company Ceva are collaborating on a distance learning project providing certification in poultry health management for veterinarians in Latin America. 

NC State CVM Dean Paul Lunn (left) and Ceva Animal Health's Jean-Charles Tissot (right), Ceva’s zone director for Latin America. Photo by John Joyner/ NC State Veterinary Medicine

The 18 month program will include both online course material and an on-site component, concluding with a two-week session at the CVM. Courses will be offered in both Spanish and English.

Continually changing consumer demands have created even more rapid changes in the way that we produce poultry. New strategies and approaches geared towards health, productivity, and welfare, protecting the food supply, retaining international markets, and maintaining consumer confidence are vital.

Preparing veterinarians to work effectively in the poultry industry can no longer be accomplished only within a 4 year DVM instructional program, Post-DVM training programs specializing in poultry medicine are needed to keep veterinarians up to date with the latest expert thinking.

As a result, Ceva and NC State have created a Specialist in Poultry Medicine (SPM) certificate designed to provide flexibility for working veterinarians to pursue additional training, while keeping up with their professional responsibilities.

Ceva representatives visited the CVM last week to formalize the partnership. CVM faculty and Ceva will develop the course content, with the CVM having final approval of course material.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the college to enhance the training of veterinarians who can make a difference in the area of food security, which is a global problem,” said CVM Dean Paul Lunn.

Jean-Charles Tissot, Ceva’s zone director for Latin America, thanked the college for its openness to public-private partnerships, hailing the agreement as, “a pioneering program having an impact on global issues in a socially and ethically responsible way.”

Noting that Earth’s population will reach 10 billion by 2050, Paula Cray, head of the CVM’s Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, described the partnership as an expansion the CVM’s “footprint through distance learning to make a global impact.”

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