One Caribbean veterinary school is helping students earn their DVM a year early, while a second is investing $9.5 million in the construction of a research building. St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine, on the island of Grenada, has added Regis College of Weston, Mass., to a handful of partner institutions that allow students to transfer to St. George’s for their final undergraduate year. After completing their bachelor’s curriculum at St. George’s, the students begin three years of veterinary studies, rather than four years, en route to a combined BS/DVM degree. Students who enroll in St. George’s school of human medicine may earn their M.D. the same way. “This agreement creates a direct acceptance into St. George’s and gives our undergraduates a tremendous opportunity to continue his or her educational path into medical or veterinary school while having a global experience,” said David Gilmore, associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs at Regis. Undergraduate students must maintain a competitive grade-point average, score well on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and meet other qualifications to enroll in the veterinary school, St. George’s reported. On the island of St. Kitts, the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine broke ground Nov. 13 on the 19,000-square-foot Research and Pathology Building. The facility, designed to BSL-2 Biosafety Standards, will feature five laboratories, a necropsy area with viewing gallery and a 3,000-square-foot vivarium. “This facility will help facilitate multidisciplinary One Health research and provide opportunities for greater research collaborations within the Caribbean,” said Nigel Carty, a government minister for the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. St. George’s and Ross hold accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education.
