Teaching Veterinary students accompany FDIU teams as an elective block in their senior year, traveling to field sites for investigations. Students are trained in herd investigation and other aspects of population medicine, providing them with a basic understanding of the epidemiological approach to solving disease outbreak problems. The program is the only exposure veterinary students have to group disease outbreak problems. The FDIU faculty oversee a number of the required senior student research projects and presentations which spring from ongoing investigation and research. Graduate education is an integral part of the FDIU faculty's academic responsibilities.
Graduate students specialize in epidemiology and population medicine.
In addition, FDIU faculty are regularly called on to present continuing education seminars. The unit uses epidemiological techniques to research and resolve herd disease problems, and to identify areas of critical impact that require further traditional laboratory research. The ultimate goal is to develop strategies to prevent entry of infection to the farm and to mitigate zoonotic risk. Studies on zoonotic bacteria Salmonella and E. coli 0157. Recent human problems with E. coli 0157 have elevated the need for a descriptive epidemiology, determination of risk factors for herd status, and on farm ecology.