Location: Veterinary Medical Education (VME), Room 271 Administrative Suite
UMC: 5605
Phone: (435) 797-2515
E-mail: vetmed@usu.edu
Website: https://vetmed.usu.edu
Faculty and Staff Directory: https://vetmed.usu.edu/directory/index
Dean: Dirk Vanderwall, VME 278, (435) 797-9438, dirk.vanderwall@usu.edu
Associate Dean for Academic Programs: Heloisa Rutigliano, VME 260, (435) 797-9877, heloisa.rutigliano@usu.edu
Associate Dean for Clinical Programs: Kerry Rood, VME 250, (435) 797-1882, kerry.rood@usu.edu
Associate Dean for Research: Chris Davies, VME 272, (435) 797-1900, chris.davies@usu.edu
Department Head: Ralph Meyer, VME 386, (435) 797-1774, ralph.meyer@usu.edu
Academic Departments and Degrees:
Dean’s Office, College of Veterinary Medicine: DVM degree
Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences (VCLS): MS, PhD, MPH degrees
https://vetmed.usu.edu/vcls/
Other Units:
Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
https://www.usu.edu/uvdl/
The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) was approved by the state legislature in 2022 and admitted its inaugural cohort of 42 veterinary students in August 2025, at which time the college became provisionally accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association-Council on Education. In the summer of 2026, the college moved into the new Veterinary Medical Education (VME) building, allowing the class size to increase to 80 veterinary students. The objective of the CVM is to positively impact every Utahn, and its mission to do that is clear and ambitious: To provide a state-of-the-art professional veterinary medical education leading to completion of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree; engage in leading-edge basic and clinical biomedical research; and serve the public and veterinary profession through continuing education, disease control, and outreach to serve the needs of animals and people in Utah and beyond. The CVM is dedicated to graduating exceptional veterinarians who are not only skilled practitioners but also compassionate professionals ready to take on the challenges of animal health with confidence and competence.
The CVM aims to serve the veterinary profession by addressing the state’s evolving animal and public health needs. CVM graduates will bring their training and expertise to every corner of the state (and beyond), ensuring that both urban and rural communities benefit from advanced veterinary care. Rural development and sustainability are at the heart of its mission. By fostering veterinary skills and knowledge, the CVM will support the livestock production and equine industries, ensuring these important sectors continue to thrive and contribute to our state’s economy and deeply rooted heritage. In addition, with its commitment to innovative veterinary and biomedical research, the CVM and USU more broadly will be increasingly involved in discoveries that improve animal health, advance medical knowledge, and contribute to Utah’s growing biomedical industry. Through its Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences (VCLS), the CVM offers MS and PhD degrees in Biomedical Sciences, and graduate students in those programs engage in cutting-edge research across 7 different areas. Guided by their major professor, graduate students in the program work on research projects that include clinical investigation, basic research and development, and other related activities to prepare them for career options in a variety of scientific fields. In collaboration with the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, the CVM offers a fully online Master of Public Health (MPH) degree with an emphasis in Veterinary Public Health.
Through the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UVDL), which is a partnership with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, the CVM is on the front lines of protecting animal health throughout Utah and the broader Intermountain Region. The purpose of the UVDL is to provide timely, in-depth, cost-efficient, veterinary diagnostic services to safeguard animal health, protect the agricultural economy, and shield the public against zoonotic diseases (diseases transmissible from animals to humans). By fulfilling those roles, the UVDL serves practicing veterinarians, personnel in regulatory state and federal governmental positions, public health officials, and animal owners.
