New Jersey officials celebrated the grand opening of the state's first veterinary school at Rowan University.
The opening of the new veterinary school is a positive change, as many students from the state have been sent to other areas to get an education in the specialty they want. An undergraduate program director at Rutgers University's Department of Animal Sciences, Aparna Zama, had sent numerous students, who wanted to be veterinarians, out of New Jersey.
New Jersey's First Veterinary School
These students have reportedly gone to Cornell, the Ohio State University, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others, to study a veterinary science degree. But now, with the Shreiber School for Veterinary Medicine opening at Rowan University this year, the trend is expected to change.
Zama said that this is a "very exciting development" for students in New Jersey, as well as their parents and the general profession in the state. This is something that she says the state has been waiting for a long time now, according to Whyy.
While classes for the new veterinary school's incoming Class of 2029 started in September, Rowan and New Jersey officials formally celebrated the development with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a tour of the new facility.
The state's secretary of agriculture, Edward Wengryn, said that the veterinary school's opening goes beyond simply retaining students within New Jersey. Additionally, the president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Jennifer Quammen, said that rural areas, such as the majority of South Jersey, are hurting more amid a nationwide shortage of veterinarians.
Celebrating the Historic Development
The school is described as a veterinary "teaching hospital" that features a two-story space that provides an animal hospital offering everything that would be required for taking care of animals, ranging from house pets to large livestock, 42Freeway reported.
The new veterinary school's inaugural class includes 75 students who saw the new space during the tour. It is located in Harrison Township and is close to the Route 55 Exit. The quickly developing campus area across Route 322 from the newer Inspira Hospital can be accessed from the traffic light intersection shared by both Inspira and Rowan.
During the event, the president of Rowan University, Ali Houshmand, PhD, told the crowd that the opening of the new veterinary school was something that was needed in the state. He noted that the horse industry alone in the area is a billion-dollar business. This does not even include food animals and pet animals, as per DVM360.
