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This programme is designed for veterinarians, animal health specialists and livestock farmers. It addresses contemporary issues of livestock production using innovative and interactive teaching methods. Pleasenote: a related programme in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health is also available.
Graduates of this programme will be able to improve the health and production of livestock through:
* understanding the interaction of livestock with people and the environment
* gaining an overview of the factors that influence livestock production
* implementing control strategies by integrating this knowledge with the principles of epidemiology, economics and disease control within the context of management and infrastructure
* communicating effectively on the health of animal and human populations to a range of audiences including the general public, farmers, politicians, and other key policy makers.
Prestige
The programme has been developed by academics at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), the oldest and largest veterinary school in the UK and one of the leading veterinary research centres in Europe. In 1999, RVC became the first UK veterinary school to be granted approval by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Programme Structure
MSc: seven courses
Postgraduate Diploma: four courses
Postgraduate Certificate: two courses
MSc structure
Three compulsory core courses:
* Animal disease (Current concepts)
* Development and monitoring of livestock and production systems
* Principles of livestock production
PLUS four further optional courses selected from:
* Animal welfare
* Epidemiology and animal health economics
* Economics for livestock development and policy
* Management of infectious disease outbreaks in animal populations*
* Reproduction and fertility - a species approach
* Research design, management and grant application writing
* Sustainable livestock farming in the environment (new for 2010)
* Veterinary public health
* Research project in livestock health and production
Postgraduate Diploma structure
Two compulsory core courses:
* Animal disease (Current concepts)
PLUS one other compulsory core course chosen from:
* Development and monitoring of livestock and production systems
* Principles of livestock production
PLUS two other courses chosen from the remaining core course and the
optional courses of the MSc degree (excluding the Research project).
Postgraduate Certificate structure
Two compulsory core courses:
* Animal disease (Current concepts)
PLUS one other compulsory core course chosen from:
* Development and monitoring of livestock and production systems
* Principles of livestock production
Notes: * New for 2009
Short courses
The individual courses of the degrees can also be studied as stand-alone 240-hour short courses for CPD. On completion of the course you can transfer onto the degree programme. There are also a range of shorter 50-hour and 35-hour short courses.
How you study
Although the programme is designed to be followed successfully with a minimum of direct academic support, you are able to receive support in several ways:
* Up to three written assignments for each course will be provided for you to complete and submit for tutor comment and guidance. The marks for the best of these will count in the formal assessment process. Although the marks obtained for the other essays do not contribute to the overall assessment, students often find it helpful to receive academic feedback on their work to ensure that they are reaching the required standard. In addition, writing essays can be a useful aid in preparing for examinations.
* You are offered tutorial support for academic matters through the External System Office at the Royal Veterinary College. Your enquiry will be answered by an appropriate member
of the panel of experts from the RVC academic staff who support this programme. However, the RVC is unable to provide support on non-academic matters.
* An online discussion board has been introduced for selected courses. This provides the opportunity to collaborate with others via discussion rooms. You will require access to the internet (either dial-up or broadband) to participate. At set times, a tutor will be online to answer questions and we are planning to run tutorials during the academic year.
* Students are invited to allow us to share their contact details with other students studying on the programme in their locality, so that networking and mutual support can be arranged locally if desired.
Study materials
When you first register as an External student you will receive:
* a Student handbook, giving you information on planning your studies, preparing for examinations and study techniques
* a Course pack for each course you study. This will contain a folder of directed learning notes, along with a series of readings. The readings will consist of copies of book chapters and articles which have been specially selected from leading academic journals and books. These will present the most concise and readable information and recent developments in the field
* Textbooks for certain courses
* Videos for certain courses
* Samples of past examination papers, and, where a course has previously been examined, an
examiner´s report
* CD-ROMs (for certain courses).
In subsequent years of your registration you will receive:
* an updated Student handbook; the relevant course pack for any additional courses you begin studying; any sample/past examination papers and reports not previously received.
The programme is designed so that you are provided with all the materials you need to study. The materials are comprehensive so you will be able to complete the courses without access to any additional books or readings. There is, therefore, no need to purchase expensive textbooks, or to spend valuable time in trying to locate journals which may not be available locally.
Period of study and time commitment
Students registering for the MSc degree programmes have a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years in which to complete, whilst Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate students have a minimum of one year and a maximum of five. The `study year´ is effectively between February and September, with examinations in early/mid-October.
Because individuals differ in the number of hours per week they need to devote to study, and in the number of years in which they would like to complete the programme, it is difficult to be precise about the number of hours´ study required. A rough guide, however, is that to complete in the minimum period you should be prepared for not less than 10 hours of study per week and 15 hours would be recommended. It is very important that the hours given to study, however many they may be, should be given consistently.
Assessment
Each individual course will be examined by a three-hour unseen written examination, which may contain both essays and shorter questions. You will also be required to submit up to three compulsory written assignments per course, and the one with the highest marks will count as part of the formal assessment. The two elements are weighted as follows: unseen written examination (80%), compulsory written assignment (20%).
Examinations
Examinations take place once a year in October. If you fail an examination at the first sitting, you will be allowed one further attempt.
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