Discipline Introduction
The Veterinary Medicine Discipline (VMD) originate from the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine Group of National Northwest Agriculture and Forestry College established in 1934. VMD was authorized to recruit postgraduates in 1966 and doctoral students in 1986. It was approved as National Key Discipline in 2001, as first-level discipline of doctorate conferring spot in 2003, as mobile postdoctoral station in 2007. Major of Veterinary Medicine was approved as national characteristic major in 2008; as reforming experimental major for National Outstanding Agricultural and Forestry Talents Nurturing and Training Program in 2014, as professional doctorate conferring spot in 2018, as national first-level undergraduate discipline construction spot in 2019. With the guidance of CHENG Shaojiong, SHENG Tongsheng, KUANG Ronglu, MA Wentian, HU Xiangbi, DUAN Dexian, HOU Congyuan, and WANG Jianchen, and the endeavor of veterinary scientists generation by generation, a complete talent nurturing system with bachelor, master and doctor degree has been formed.
1. Orientation and target
Our discipline will take the frontier scientific and development trend as target, take the important animal disease control, key demand on human health and food security of our country as central point, aiming at attracting innovative talents, and constructing high-level innovation platform and environment. A Researching& Promoting Base with the international awareness of nurturing high-level innovative talents and achievements for veterinary medicine will be built up, in feature of integrating industry, university, research and application.
2. Party construction leads discipline development
“People as the root of country, food as the heaven of people, morality must be enriched, basement must be reinforced”, the education concept of Northwest A&F University, was created by former sages and should be upholded all along. Taking “morality and personality establishment” as root, party construction as the guide of discipline development, VMD is serving for Chinese Characteristic Socialism, nurturing qualified builders and successors for the Chinese nation great rejuvenation, and producing outcomes for veterinary medicine modernization of our country. Basel party organizations will play leading role for discipline development through setting party branches in research groups, integrating teacher and student party members, and appointing academicians and discipline leaders as “double leader”party branch secretaries.
3. Advantages and features
(1) Strong faculty of teaching group. There are 104 full-time teachers, in which 101 with doctor's degree, 38 with title of professor (researcher), and 50 with title of associate professor (associate researcher). Teachers under the age of 45 account for 52.27% in that with senior professional titles. There are four senior veterinarians and six senior laboratory engineers in our discipline. Among the teaching talents, there are one academician, two double-hired academicians, one National “Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand talent Project” enshrinees, one State Council Discipline Consultative Group member, one Ministry of Education Teaching Direct Committee member, three Ministry of Education New Century Excellent Talents, one National Agricultural Industrial Technology System post scientist; four Shaanxi "Hundred Talents Plan" enshrinees, two Science& Technology Middle-younger Leading Talents, six "Sanqin" Talents, seven modern agricultural industrial technology system post experts, one Shaanxi university "Outstanding Young Talent" and one "Young Innovation Group Leader". During the past 5 years, 16 young core teachers engaged in our discipline. Furthermore, there are one HUANG Danian Type Teaching Group, four provincial research& innovation groups, and two provincial teaching groups.
(2) Remarkable achievements in talent nurturing. Until now, over 4,280 bachelors, 2,400 masters and 561 doctors were nurtured. Among them, a great many are veterinary elits, especially leading talents in theriogenology, animal embryo engineering, animal toxicology and so on. In the past five years, totally 883 undergraduates, 813 master's students (include professional masters), 228 doctoral students (include professional doctors) were recruited; 872 undergraduate students, 615 master's students (include professional master's), 132 doctoral students (include professional doctors) graduated. The undergraduate students gained three grand prizes in National “Shengtaier Cup” College Students’ Veterinary Medicine Skill Competition, and one grand prize in "Eagle Cup" Small Animal Doctors’ Skill Competition. Postgraduate students published 501 papers, in which 354 are SCI indexed and 4 awarded for Shaanxi Excellent Doctoral Dissertations. One grand prize and one second-class prize of Shaanxi Teaching Achievement Award were acquired. Nine National planning textbooks were chief-edited by our discipline, in which two gained National Agricultural Educational Excellent Textbook and two gained Provincial Excellent Textbook second-class prizes.
3) Prominent advantages in scientific research. After a long period of research accumulation, prominent features and advantages has formed in a series of research fields, including Cattle/ Goat Embryo Engineering, Disease Resistance Bioengineering, Animal Stem Cells & Histological Engineering, Animal Reproductive Endocrine & Disorder, Steppe Poisonous Plant & Toxonosis Control, And Livestock Key Epidemic Control & Product Security. Among the above fields, Disease Resistance Bioengineering and Cattle/ Goat Embryo Engineering are in levels of international leading level and advanced level, respectively. In the past four years, over 190 research programs were undertook, accompanied with contract funds of 135.63 million RMB (about 20.18 million dollars ) and arrived funds of 9.90 million RMB (about 1.47 million dollars ); up to 532 papers were published, including 442 SCI indexed papers and 18 authorized invention patents. Our discipline has won a series of honors, including one second-class prize of National Science & Technology Invention Award, three second-class prizes of Shaanxi Science & Technology Award, one first-class prize (signature sequence 3) and one second-class prize (signature sequence 3) of Tibet Autonomous Region Science & Technology Award, and one first-class prize of China Prataculture Technology Award (signature sequence 2).
(4) Distinctive features in platform construction. Livestock Biological National Key Laboratory (Cultivate) was approved to be constructed from 2018. Until now, a series of research institutes were established: Ministry of Agriculture Animal Biotechnology Key Laboratory, Veterinary Drugs & Diagnostic Technology Shaanxi Experimental Station, National Agricultural Science Experimental Station Animal Epidemics Data Center, Shaanxi Agricultural & Forestry Science Academy Center, Shaanxi Animal Embryo Engineering Technology Research Center, Shaanxi Stem Cell Engineering Technology Research Center, Shaanxi Veterinary Biological Products & New Veterinary Drug Research International Cooperation Base, National Animal Science Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Shaanxi Veterinary Medicine Virtual & Stimulative Teaching Experimental Center. Experimental animal center (7000m2), Large Animal Hospital, Xi 'an Pet Hospital were established by our discipline, as well. VMD directs the journal "Progress in Veterinary Medicine", and subordinates to the Veterinary Obstetrics Association and Animal Toxicology Association of China Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine association.
(5) Social service with integrated resources. Surrounding the mission of “rural revitalization, food security, ecology civilization, human health”, social service functions of VMD were expanded and improved, continuously. On the basis of “expert community”, take the advantages of technology and talents, “China (Ningxia) Dairy Industry Research Institute”, "Zhengneng Pig Industry Service Center", "Shengao Veterinary Medicine Research Institute", "Carrier Pigeon Research Institute" were established to promote healthy development of animal husbandry of our country.
4. Discipline direction and nurturing goal
As first-level discipline, VMD is consisted of four second-level disciplines: Basic Veterinary Medicine, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Clinical Veterinary Medicine and Animal Biotechnology.
Goal for talents nurturing: mastering the extensive basic theories, systematic specialized knowledge and relative modern research skills; getting familiar with the history and current situation, development trends, and the latest research outcomes of VMD; equipping VMD by high-level talents with abilities of solving practical veterinary problems, teaching, research and management, independently.
5. Domestic and international influence
Nowadays, our graduates are spreading all over the world, and have become industrial elites. After turning into the national "985" and "211" construction sequence, the degree of celebrity is further upgraded. After the first soma-cloning goat of China, eight cattle and goat disease-resistance breeding new materials were developed. Mastitis and tuberculosis resistance dairy cows become two important breakthroughs in the international livestock gene-editing field. Relative SCI Indexed papers, ranking first in global same field institutions, get international extensive attention and good reputation from global experts, PNAS and BioMed . The research on Animal Diseases Pathogenesis & Control showed outstanding potential in pathogenesis and comprehensive control of swine fever, PRRS, swine infectious gastroenteritis, Newcastle disease, cattle/ goat brucellosis, peste des petits ruminants, and so on.
VMD has established stable communication and cooperation relationship with over 10 world famous universities in the United States, Canada, Japan and so on. The cooperation quality and international influence are reinforced through reciprocal visiting, students’ joint training, short-term training and program cooperating. Our discipline presides one Key International Cooperation Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China. In the past five years, 17 international students were recruited, 26 graduate students went for oversea doctorate education, eight doctoral students were jointly nurtured, 15 students were exchange students for Taiwan University, 18 American students were trained with veterinary acupuncture; VMD hosted and undertook 19 international academic conferences; teachers participated in over 280 international academic communication activities.