University of Pretoria UP Veterinary School

Overview

Onderstepoort is a small geographical area and is home to various organisations/institutions, light industries and small holdings. There are at least 4 distinct entities in this regard as follows:

• The Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria
• The University of Pretoria Biomedical Research Centre (UPBRC)
• The Agricultural Research Council Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (ARC-OVI) and its Exotic Diseases Division (EDD) – www.arc.agric.za
• Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) – www.obpvaccines.co.za

The Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria is one of 46 veterinary faculties in Africa and the only one of its kind in South Africa. It is the second oldest faculty in Africa, dating back to the early 1920’s. With the exception of the faculties in Khartoum (Sudan, 1938), and Cairo (Egypt, 1946), all the other African faculties were established after 1960.

In order to fulfill its mission, the Faculty has 5 academic departments responsible for teaching, research and service rendering. These activities are further facilitated by well developed support services provided by an academic hospital, various departmental laboratories, general and student administrative sections, a teaching animal unit and a number of research centres. The Veterinary Academic Hospital provides state of the art facilities for the clinical departments and is the focus of the Faculty’s service-rendering activities to its immediate community and also serves as a national referral facility.