Veterinary Medicine celebrated its 10th anniversary

Cuenca, jueves 14 diciembre 2017
The ceremony
The ceremony

The Veterinary Medicine undergraduate program held a formal session in the University Theater to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The ceremony was chaired by UPS president, Fr. Javier Herrán, and attended by other university officials, students, professors and special guests.

In his speech, the director of this programs, Patricio Garnica, expressed his happiness to be taking part in the ceremony and spoke about "the importance that this university has had, has and will have within the livestock, economic and social development of Ecuador." The celebrations included religious activities such as the Thanksgiving mass, and other academic activities, such as the talk on "Physiology of Exercise", led by María Noel Rodríguez.

The idea of educating veterinarians with scientific knowledge and ethical and moral responsibility at UPS started in 2007 with the creation of the Veterinary Medicine undergraduate program in Cuenca. At first the idea was to educated professionals in prevention and resolution of problems related to animal production, welfare, and public health, through traditional and innovative methods and technologies, in harmonious coexistence with the environment. 

"This program, created in 2007, knows its past well, appreciates its present well and upon starting one more year of life, knows very well what it wants from the future: to educate people capable of adapting to the rapid changes of our time, to continuously seek advancements, convinced that there is no teaching that cannot be renewed without research", said Garnica. 

Pablo Arévalo Moscoso, director of the area of Life Sciences, remembered the creation of this program and its previous directors. Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics started with 35 students who carried out their activities in the university campuses "El Vecino" (Cuenca) and "Juan Lunardi" (Paute) and graduated their first class in 2012.

"The current image projected by the veterinarian is that of a multifaceted professional committed to promoting food safety, support for rural development," said Vladimir Tocto, a student, who also explained how the veterinarian is one of the professions with greater vocation of service because, like the doctors, they are in charge of saving lives, in addition their research and studies have contributed enormously to the scientific advance in the different fields of health in both humans and animals.

To close the ceremony, Fr. Javier Herrán said that: "We celebrate 10 years of daily growth of those who in a few generations have built the Veterinary Medicine program. Today we look back on the past, thanking the achievements of those who have been beneficiaries and the people who have made it a reality. This program has combined experience and tradition accumulated for many years in the Salesian Agronomic School of Cuenca by men like Juan Lunardi. "

He added that, in 10 years, the program has developed a culture of work and dedication to the wide world of livestock exploitation. It is open to the medical science of the animal world in terms of livestock production or the conversion of species and animal support.