Such shared ground means that although graduates in food sciences and veterinary medicine have very different scientific profiles, they speak a common language, which reinforces their ability to work together and support each other in their future careers. This is a factor, which is an advantage in both the public and private sectors, where employers are able to benefit from the whole scientific range embraced by the two subjects. In veterinary medicine, students must develop expertise in pathology and medicine with special focus on diseases in production animals such as cattle, pigs, poultry, and fish. Teaching at the department places emphasis on the factors that affect the incidence of diseases, which can be transmitted to humans. These may occur during primary production or when the raw ingredients are processed at the slaughterhouse, for example.
Veterinary students visit dairies as well as poultry, swine and beef slaughterhouses.
Animal welfare, ethical issues arising from the different forms of production, case studies, risk assessment, and quality control are also vital elements of our teaching. The current veterinary syllabus includes excellent opportunities for students who so wish to specialise in hygiene via microbiology projects, in-depth courses, and theses, for example. The growing interest among our students for organic farming and animal welfare in agriculture is clearly reflected by their choice of assignments. The study programme for food scientists attaches more importance to chemistry and technology, and we focus on the interaction between the raw materials and the technological processes and their influence on the way pathogenic bacteria thrive. For food science and veterinary students alike, theory and practical laboratory work go hand in hand, ensuring that the students also learn a craft .