In December this year Malawi will graduate the first ever 12 ‘home grown’ veterinarians trained right here at LUANAR.

The Bachelor of Veterinary Science is LUANAR’s youngest degree programme and the vet school is the youngest in Africa. Previously Malawi’s veterinarians were trained outside of Malawi which is obviously very expensive and limited the number of veterinarians entering into the profession in our country.

To celebrate Malawi’s success, the Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA) and Inglis Vets Scotland awarded the students and their professor, Tefera Melaku, a once in a lifetime trip to visit veterinary practices, the University of Edinburgh and farms and fisheries in Scotland.  Adam Tjolle, who played a significant role in establishing the LSPCA in Lilongwe, put together a team to welcome the students and plan their 3 week-long stay.

Apart from vet related work, the students had the opportunity to meet with members of the Scottish parliament at their chambers in Edinburgh and took part in a question and answer session to share information about successes and constraints in Malawi’s veterinary profession.

LSPCA provides early clinical induction for surgery practice and practical field work through village consultations to all students studying veterinary medicine and animal health at both the Bunda and NRC campuses.  This ensured that students had access to state-of-the-art imaging equipment and a fully equipped theatre to gain the necessary practical skills to advance as practicing veterinarians.