Integrating the issues of global animal and public health into the veterinary education curriculum: a Latin American perspective.

This paper describes the development of a consensus profile for the Latin American veterinarian, and its adoption as the basis for curricular change by veterinary schools in the region. The process has been conducted by three Pan American organisations: the Pan American Association of Veterinary Science, the Pan American Federation of Veterinary Schools, and the Pan American Council of Veterinary Education, with strong backing bythe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Recommendations for curricular harmonisation have been issued that will facilitate student and academic exchanges and, above all, will guarantee that the graduates from participating colleges have the knowledge, competencies and skills to adequately perform in the different fields of veterinary medicine, including those most relevant to global animal and public health.