Veterinary Preventive Medicine Graduate Certificate Requirements

farm animals in their habitat - cow, chicken and pig
What is a graduate certificate?

For DVMs and non-DVMs in allied animal industries. 

A graduate certificate is an additional qualification awarded by Iowa State University after successful completion of 15 graduate level credits. As such the graduate certificate requires less course work than a Masters (30+ credits) level program. The Veterinary Preventive Medicine Certificate is an online coursework distance program. 

With approval, it may be possible to transfer credits from a Graduate Certificate towards a Masters degree in Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Candidates are encouraged to discuss this possibility with the Director of Certificate Education and the Director of Graduate Education for the Master’s degree program in Veterinary Preventive Medicine to fully understand the circumstances when this is possible.
 
A graduate certificate is different from continuing education as the certificate includes an academic transcript from Iowa State University. Students complete the same courses graduate students do with the same expectations for all assignments and exams.

 

What is Veterinary Preventive Medicine?

Veterinary Preventive Medicine is a very diverse area. Students in the program are able to include courses in areas of animal welfare, diagnostics, food safety, evidence-based medicine, surgery, pathology, microbiology, epidemiology, public health, statistics and production medicine. Students can choose courses that focus on any of these disciplines. For example, students can focus on:

Epidemiology: Epidemiology focuses on the understanding the causes and control of diseases of companion, food producing and wild animals. Epidemiologists also study the costs of epidemic and endemic diseases of animals, disease control or eradication by public veterinary services, relationships between veterinary medicine and animal production, and development of new techniques in diagnosing, recording, evaluating and controlling diseases in animal populations.

Risk assessment: Risk assessment involves analyzing and quantifying the causal pathway of events that may lead to negative outcomes in animals or humans. This technique is useful for decision makers trying to decide among various risk mitigation or animal health management options. Risk assessment serves as the conduit for bringing all applicable science to the policy arena.

Animal Welfare: Animal welfare studies aim to develop sound scientific measures for animal well-being, through a multi disciplinary approach utilizing: physiology, immunology, neuroscience, cognitive abilities, behavior, epidemiology, performance and health. 

 

Requirements

Qualified applicants must hold either a baccalaureate degree (BA, BS) or a professional degree (DVM, MD, etc.) from an accredited institution in the United States. Applicants trained outside the U.S. should hold equivalent degrees from a recognized institution whose requirements for the baccalaureate or professional degrees are substantially equivalent to those at Iowa State University.

Application Materials

The following materials should be submitted through the online application system:

  • Graduate application with statement of purpose describing background, research interests, and career objectives.
  • Official Undergraduate or professional transcripts
  • Resume/CV

Application Deadlines

Fall admission - July 15

Spring admission - December 1