A Message From The Dean

Welcome to the homepage of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University was founded in 1978. Located in North Grafton, Mass., it is the only veterinary school in the six state New England region. The school's pioneering academic programs, high quality clinical care services and original research advancing animal, human and environmental health, have brought Tufts University national and worldwide acclaim.

Tufts provides a very special learning environment for the study of modern veterinary medicine. We are fortunate to be nested within the best higher education environment in the nation, with 58 colleges and universities and hundreds of biomedical companies located in the greater Boston area.

Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (TCSVM) is located in a beautiful New England setting in North Grafton, Massachusetts, approximately one hour west of Boston. Our 585-acre campus includes three teaching hospitals, the Hospital for Large Animals, the Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals and the Wildlife Clinic in the Bernice Barbour Wildlife Medicine Building, where over 28,000 patients are treated annually by clinicians representing a broad range of veterinary specialties. Academic instruction is offered in practical, modern facilities including the Franklin M. Loew Veterinary Medical Education Center, the Webster Family Veterinary Library, the David McGrath Veterinary Teaching Laboratory, the Luke and Lily Lerner Spay/Neuter Clinic, the Agnes Varis Lecture Hall and our 250-acre working farm. In addition, three other buildings on our campus are exclusively used for clinical and basic science research. Off-campus, the Cummings School maintains the Tufts Ambulatory Farm Service in Woodstock, Connecticut and the Tufts Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service in Walpole, Massachusetts. Through the school's International Program, faculty encourage sustainable animal agriculture, wildlife conservation and public health and students have opportunities for experiential learning in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

TCSVM is a student-centered school with an innovative flexible curriculum offering both electives and selectives in addition to a balanced core experience. We have developed five signature programs that push the traditional boundaries of veterinary medicine: International Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Medicine, Equine Sports Medicine, Veterinary Biotechnology, and Ethics and Values in Veterinary Medicine. The Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine places the Cummings School in the forefront of the emerging study of human, animal and environmental health in ecosystems, locally and globally. The School's Center for Animals and Public Policy enhances the study of the role of all animals in our society.

Our talented and dedicated faculty and staff have established an entrepreneurial culture that values creativity and innovation on a scale exceeding other places. Our students choose Tufts precisely because our curriculum and signature programs broaden their learning experience, while defining new roles for veterinarians in society. In addition, students may enroll in various joint degree programs: BS/DVM, DVM/MS in Comparative Biomedical Sciences, DVM/MA in Law and Diplomacy, DVM/MPH in Public Health, DVM/MS in Laboratory Animal Medicine, DVM/MS in Animals and Public Policy, or DVM/PhD.

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is recognized internationally for faculty contributions to the study of zoonotic infectious diseases-illnesses that move from animals to people. The school was awarded an unparalleled $25 million NIH grant to establish a research unit for the national Food and Waterborne Disease Integrated Research Network, and a $15 million NIH grant to build a Regional Biosafety Laboratory for work with infectious disease organisms. Tufts veterinarians are also leading the international effort to bring participatory disease surveillance and community-based disease control to the fight against avian influenza in Indonesia. Other nationally recognized research programs supported by grants from NIH and other sources include Reproductive Biology, Hepatic Diseases, Pulmonary Diseases and Nutrition. Leading clinical programs include Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Cardiology, Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, Medicine and Surgery, Anesthesiology and Pain Management, and Animal Behavior.

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine annually enrolls over 300 students in its four-year program leading to a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. In 2004, the school ranked first among the 32 North American veterinary schools in the combined GRE scores of its entering class. In recent years, we have consistently been among the top three schools in graduates' success in the competitive matching program for internships and residencies. Our innovative graduate programs include the world's only MS degree in the field of animals and public policy and the first DVM/MPH program that places veterinary and medical students in the same classroom. A recently established DVM/MS in Laboratory Medicine and the DVM/MPH combined degree are obtainable within the four-year professional program by creatively integrating curricula and utilizing summer study.

Cummings School was most recently fully accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA/COE) in March 2005. The next site visit will be in 2011. For the last five years our graduating DVM's have had an average passing rate of 98.2% on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE). The current COE standard is 80%.

The first quarter century of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine has seen 1500 graduates establish successful careers in a variety of fields within the profession including clinical practice, biomedical research, and pioneering positions in international medicine, conservation medicine and public health. We believe all of our graduates contribute with commitment and through advanced knowledge of medicine, surgery and biomedical science to improve the health of animals and humans and the ecosystems in which they live.

Tufts Cummings School is the place to be for an encompassing education in modern veterinary medicine. We welcome your questions and encourage you to visit!

Best Regards,
Deborah T. Kochevar
Dean