Welcome to the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine (USU CVM). The goal of the CVM is to positively impact every student, and our mission for doing that is clear and ambitious: To provide a state-of-the-art professional veterinary medical education; engage in leading-edge basic and clinical biomedical research; and serve the public and veterinary profession through continuing education, disease control, and outreach. We are dedicated to graduating exceptional veterinarians who are not only skilled practitioners but also compassionate professionals ready to take on the challenges of animal health with confidence and competence.
This is an exciting time of transition for the CVM. Since 2012, we have participated in a “2 + 2” partnership with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University and the broader Washington – Idaho – Montana – Utah (WIMU) Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine. Last August, we welcomed the final cohort of 29 veterinary students into the USU WIMU program. When those students graduate in 2028 our participation in that program will sunset.
We are working diligently to establish our new 4-year veterinary program that was approved by the Utah Legislature in 2022. Having received a “Letter of Reasonable Assurance ” from the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, we will enroll our first cohort of 40 students in the new program this fall and those students will graduate in 2029. Enrollment in subsequent years will increase to 80 students, which will be made possible by the construction of a new Veterinary Medical Education (VME) building that will be completed in the summer of 2026. You can view the construction of the VME building in real-time. The VME building will be used for academic instruction in the first 3 years of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree program and the 4th-year of clinical training will primarily occur in a network of community-based private veterinary practices located throughout the Intermountain West. Our curriculum is designed to ensure students are “ practice-ready ” at the end of the third year, so they can fully optimize their clinical training in their host practices over the course of the 4th year under “ real world” veterinary practice conditions.
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students in the CVM, thank you very much for your interest in and support for our college.
Dirk K. Vanderwall, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT
Dean