ASIAN ASSOCIATION OF VETERINARY SCHOOLS (AAVS)AAVSPOSTThe latest news and updates from the Asian Association of Veterinary Schools
Volume 4 | April 2023

SAPPORO SUMMER SYMPOSIUM FOR ONE HEALTH (SASSOH) 2022
STUDENT SESSION, HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY

IN THIS ISSUE
Message from new AAVS President
Announcement from AAVS Office
Introduction of Faculty of Veterinary Medicineand Animal Sciences, University of Peradeniya –new member of AAVS Executive Committee

Save the date: 21st Annual Meeting of AAVSApril,23, Vol.4

AAVS2MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENTDear AAVS Members and Colleagues,It is my pleasure to serve as President of the AAVS
until 3rd quarter of 2023. I am obliged to acknowledge
the leadership provided by Prof. Dr Abdul Rahman
Omar who served until January 2023 and kept thisimportant organisation running well throughout histenure. Great thanks to the staff of the AAVS Office for
their continued support and dedication to excellence
to ensure the smooth operation during the transition.
Let me briefly share my path towards becoming involved with this great organisation. I started mycareer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Putra Malaysia in 1989. Since then, I
have served the university, private institution and public organisations at various capacities until
my appointment as Dean of the faculty in December 2022. Despite my brief tenure to be, it is mymission to ensure AAVS to more actively and deeply serves our Member institutions in an
effective manner.
The continuing changes and challenges embracing our veterinary profession, ranging fromenvironmental, demographic, political, technological, scientific and economic, demand ourreadiness to navigate through the increasingly complex landscapes of our veterinary educationand profession. I strongly believe that AAVS is a network on which we have become increasingly
reliant to capitalise opportunities identified among the issues. Our dynamism shall provide
continuing development and outreach opportunities to all Members.
I am proud of the previous successes of this organisation, particularly in providing meaningful
engagement of our Members. I strongly encourage our Members to feel free to share great ideas,suggestions, and comments. If we want to make a difference, please share your proposal to thechairperson of the respective working groups and get your team more involved. Only then shall
we be able to harness more values in return of the “investment” made by our Memberorganisations. In the year ahead, the post-pandemic era, I hope AAVS and Members’ initiatives
will bring us all closer than ever.
Thank you for your continued participation, enthusiasm, incredible support and invaluable advicefor our eminent association. I hope our continuing engagement shall provide not only great
networking and extended development opportunities in veterinary education and profession, butalso great new friends.
Wishing you a good and successful 2023, and looking forward to seeing you soon.
Azmi M.L., 2023.
President, AAVSApril,23, Vol.4

AAVS

Announcement from AAVS Office
Reports of the 20th AAVS Executive Committee Meeting andAssembly Meeting
The 20th AAVS Executive Committee Meeting and Assembly Meeting were
held virtually in November 2022. The reports are now available onthe AAVS website.

AAVS Executive Committee Members, 2023
https://aavs.jpn.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EC-Members-Nov-22.pdf

President

University of Putra Malaysia,Malaysia

Vice President

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Past President

University of Tokyo, Japan

Representative from
East Asia

Seoul National University, Korea

Representative fromSoutheast Asia

Gadjah Mada University , Indonesia

Representative fromSouth Asia

University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

EC Member 1

Kasetsart University, Thailand

EC Member 2

Central Luzon State University,
Philippines

Treasurer

Dr. Takiguchi, Hokkaido University

Secretary General

Dr. Haga, University of Tokyo

3

April,23, Vol.4

AAVS

4

AAVS Interschool Lecture Round 2023:
Lecture call – due 21st April 2023

AAVS member survey on veterinary
education in Asia – collaboration withFAVA – due 21st April 2023

AAVS is pleased to announce theupcoming 2023 AAVS Interschool Lecture
Round, which will take place online
between May – July 2023. This lecture
series aims to increase awareness offuture disease outbreaks and how current
preparedness
might
betakentoanticipate a future pandemic. The main
topic
isaVeterinary
Updateof
Infectious and Emerging Disease andOne-Health Approach Management toFuture Emerging Disease.
The event will consist of three 2-hoursessions featuring keynote speakers whowill cover various topics related toveterinary science, including updates on
African swine fever, monkeypox, andNewcastle Disease. The lecture series isopen to all students from AAVS Member
campuses, either bachelor or rotational
students.
The 2023 AAVS Interschool Lecture
Round is an excellent opportunity for all
students and faculty members to enhancetheir understanding and capacity inseveral topic areas related to a OneHealth approach in veterinary science.
Interested faculty members who could
provide lectures are kindly requested toaccess the lecture call page via thefollowing link:
https://tinyurl.com/2023AAVSLecturerCallFormIn2022,
AAVSandFAVA
have
established a joint education committeeto develop a common self-assessment
tool for Asian veterinary schools. As
part of this collaboration, the AAVS
VeterinaryEducation
Enhancement
Working Group (VEE-WG) is inviting all
AAVS Member institutions to participate
in an online survey.
The survey aims to collect information
about the status of Day-1-Competencies(D1C) and Core Curriculum (CC) in eachcountry and educational institution inAsia. The information collected willserve as a reference to develop D1C andCC in Asia through a collaborative effort
between AAVS and FAVA.
The survey will run until 21st April,2023, and the findings will be sharedwith the Joint Education Committee ofFAVA and AAVS as well as FAVA
members. Please submit one response
per member institution: Link to thesurvey:
https://forms.office.com/e/3rwD29JeJK*To arrange lectures from May, yourkind responses to the lecture call form by
21st April, 2023, are highly appreciated!

Related information:- FAVA Congress 2022: Invited
Lectures “Veterinary Education <To theAdvancement of Veterinary Education>”- Qualities and competencies to be
developedthroughundergraduate
veterinary education (prepared by theJoint Education Committee of FAVAAAVS, adopted by the 20th AAVS Annual
Assembly Meeting on 24 November2022)

AAVS Annual Membership Update
We thank those Members who have made a membership fee payment and reviewed thelist of contacts. Member certificates along with the new password for the Members’
platform on the AAVS Website have been issued and the membership list has been
updated. If anyone has questions about membership status or our contact list, please do
not hesitate to contact the AAVS Office (secretary@aavs.jpn.org).

April,23, Vol.4

AAVS

5Introduction ofFaculty of Veterinary Medicine andAnimal Sciences, University of Peradeniya
New member of AAVS Executive Committee
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicineand Animal Science (FVMAS) at theUniversity of Peradeniya is the only higher
education institution in Sri Lanka
imparting a course of study forveterinarians. The BVSc undergraduate
training programme commenced in 1947
with the establishment of the Departmentof Veterinary Clinical Sciences within theFACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE AND ANIMAL SCIENCES,UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA, SRI LANKA, THE OLDEST BUILDINGFaculty of Medicine, University of Ceylon
DONATED UNDER THE COLOMBO PLAN.
in the capital, Colombo. The intake at theinception was 2 students per year. In 1954, this department was shifted to Peradeniya in the central hills andincorporated into the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Science of the University of Ceylon. The
preclinical courses however continued to be taught in Colombo until 1966. In 1973 the Department ofVeterinary Science was upgraded to a School of Veterinary Science within a Faculty of Medical, Dental andVeterinary Sciences of the Peradeniya Campus of the University of Sri Lanka. The new School consisted ofthree departments viz. Departments of Veterinary Preclinical, Paraclinical and Clinical Studies, and theAnimal Science component of the course was taught by the Department of Animal Science, Faculty ofAgriculture. In early 1980, the BVSc training programme received full-fledged faculty status. At present theFVMAS consists of five departments, namely Dept. of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Veterinary Pathobiology,Veterinary Public Health and Pharmacology, Veterinary Clinical Sciences, and Farm Animal Production andHealth together with many service function units.
The Bachelor of Veterinary Science curriculum underwent formal revisions during 1991 and 2000 toalign it with international veterinary educational norms at the time. However, the most revolutionary

curriculum revision came in 2020 under the World
Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) twinning programwith Massey University, New Zealand, which extended theBVSc degree course from four to five years in keeping withpresent, internationally accepted veterinary degree
programmes. A lecture-free final year with industry-based
externship appointments are key features in this new
curriculum. The annual student intake at present is 130
students per batch. The present employability of theveterinary graduates is 100%, and they are being employedboth locally and overseas in diverse state-based and privateorganisations related to animal health and production, publichealth, academia, and research.
For more information, please visit: https://vet.pdn.ac.lk

VETERINARY TEACHING FARM (DAIRY UNIT)

April,23, Vol.4

AAVS

Save the date: 21st Annual Meeting of AAVS
Date: September 11, 12, and 13
Location: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University,Sapporo, Japan
Modality: Hybrid
Provisional programme
September 11: Executive Committee meetingSeptember 12: Veterinary Education Research (VER) Session“1st VetEd Asia”*
Veterinary Education Enhancement (VEE)
Session Assembly Meeting*Call for Abstracts (last date of submission: 30th April, 2023)
Associated events:
September 11: WOAH Sub-Regional Meeting for VEEs in East
Asia (TBC)
September 13: AAVS/Sapporo Summer Symposium for One
Health (SaSSOH) joint meeting

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AAVS
Please visit the AAVS website (https://aavs.jpn.org/)

FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
Please contact us via AAVS website contact form or at secretary@aavs.jpn.org

6