MCM Curriculum

The interdisciplinary nature of conservation medicine requires practitioners to be skilled in a specific area, but also proficient at communicating with others outside of their field, and capable of catalyzing, organizing and producing integrated analyses or practical plans. Tufts University's innovative program in Conservation Medicine is a professional master's degree, which will build upon the expertise each student brings to the program. The curriculum is designed to provide graduates with foundational knowledge in the various contributing fields for conservation medicine, and develop their team building organizational and leadership skills necessary for successful implementation of real world conservation efforts.

The MCM program is a twelve-month program with a curriculum that consists of small seminar style courses, journal club and independent team-project-based activities culminating in an individual case study. Students must complete a four-week internship in a conservation medicine related setting. In addition, students must choose two elective courses from many different disciplines available to augment their educational and professional goals. No thesis is required.

If funding is available, select students may have the option of continuing with a research fellowship for another twelve months conducted under the mentorship of a program faculty member.

The following team-taught, interdisciplinary courses are specifically designed to address the needs of the conservation medicine professional.

Fall Semester

  • VET 580 Ecology and Conservation Biology
  • VET 581 Health, Disease and the Environment
  • VET 582 Research Skills I - Systematic Review and Analysis
  • VET 583 Field and Laboratory Techniques
  • VET 584 Journal Club
  • VET 585 Case Study
  • VET 517 Elective Course

Spring Semester

  • VET 586 Human Dimensions of Conservation Medicine
  • VET 587 Engineered Solutions
  • VET 588 Research Skills II - Surveillance Methods and Techniques
  • VET 589 Project Management and Communication
  • VET 584 Journal Club
  • VET 585 Case Study
  • VET 517 Elective Course

Summer Semester

  • VET 585 Case Study
  • VET 590 Internship