India attracting overseas Vet students

Chennai, Jul 29: India is increasingly turning out to be a favoured destination for foreign veterinary students with the country offering expertise in dealing with a variety of tropical diseases afflicting animals and rarest of rare cases.

Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University here had been attracting foreign students who want to study about tropical diseases, its Vice Chancellor R Prabhakaran said.

"We have the country's only small animal orthopedics and ophthalmology units in our university. Since we are dealing with rarest of rare cases, foreign universities approach us for exchange programmes," he told PTI today.

S Ayyappan, Professor in Small Animal Orthopedics Department in the university, said: "In India, we get a variety of veterinary cases and the rarest of rare cases. Foreign universities send their students on sabbatical mainly to study tropical diseases."

The department was the only centre in the country to specialise in the treatment of small animals, mainly pets, Ayyappan said on the sidelines of an exhibition.

University's Director of Clinicals S Prathaban said six students each from Virginia Tech University and University of Michigan in the US and four from Malaysia were at the university this year.

They were expecting 55 students from University of Chittagong in Bangladesh in September and a student from Indonesia next month on an exchange programme, he said.

The small animal orthopedics and ophthalmology centres use the latest medical technology including C-Arc fluoroscopy and gas anesthesia machine, used for human treatment.

With more and more animal lovers ready to spend on their pets, veterinary sciences have more takers these days, C Ramani of Opthalmology Department said.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Minister for Animal Husbandry N R Sivapathi inaugurated a scientific exhibition in the university campus here as part of its World Veterinary Year 2011 celebrations.

PTI