The University of Missouri has opened applications for the nation’s first online master’s program in veterinary public health.
The online program will look into the role of animals in the health of human communities. Lise Saffran the program director said infectious diseases don’t observe geographic boundaries. “Public health is global health whether or not you’re going to live in Mid-Missouri and have your career here or whether you are travelling around the world.” She said.
Saffran also stated that about 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals. Saffran said the online masters veterinary public health program will be accessible to people all over the state of Missouri, the country and the world. It will allow for professionals in rural areas who want to work more deeply into public health issues in their communities to get the training they need.
Stacy Snow, the director of marketing for Mizzou Online said the cost of the program will be based on the in-state tuition rate. “The program is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the school of health professions and the college of veterinary medicine.” Snow said one of the outcomes the faculty is most interested in seeing is the collaborative efforts made possible for students to study the zoonotic diseases that affect animals and how that touches on the human population. “No matter where the students are from they have the opportunity to collaborate with public health professionals and practicing veterinarians from all over and discuss the different challenges” Snow said.
She also stated that you get to collaborate with people from different parts of the country and the world and to have experiences that you may not normally have when you’re all from the same area.
The master’s degree in veterinary public health is currently offered in class but the online program will open up in the fall.