The College of Veterinary Medicine traces its origin to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine founded by Shandong Provincial College of Agriculture in 1949. This department was renamed the College of Animal Science and Technology in January 1994. The College of Veterinary Medicine was founded in October 2006 and operated under joint administration with the College of Animal Science and Technology. It became an independent college in March 2024 and fully relocated to the Animal Science and Technology Building on Panhe Campus in April 2024.

Adhering to the educational philosophy of Seeking Truth, Pursuing Innovation, Strengthening the College through Talents and featuring open school-running, the college has fostered a campus culture of Unity, Pragmatism, Enterprise and Dedication, as well as a college ethos of Sincerity, Truth-seeking, Pragmatism and Perseverance. It has developed an integrated industry-education training model for applied innovative talents in animal production. The college has been awarded 1 Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Award, 1 Third Prize of the National Technological Invention Award, 4 First Prizes of Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Award, 2 Second Prizes of the National Teaching Achievement Award and 1 Special Prize of Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Award.

In 2016, the Plant and Animal Discipline Cluster was included in Shandong Provincial First-Class Discipline Construction Program; in 2020, it was listed as a Provincial Advantageous and Characteristic Discipline. In 2022, the Plant and Animal Discipline Cluster ranked among the top 1‰ globally in ESI discipline rankings, while Veterinary Medicine has consistently secured a position within the world’s Top 50 in the Shanghai Ranking of Global Disciplines.

The college boasts a full array of teaching platforms, including a National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Virtual Simulation Teaching Innovation Laboratory under the Ministry of Education, Shandong Provincial Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Center, and Shandong Provincial Experimental Zone for Innovative Talent Training Modes. Its research platforms cover the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonoses, Professional Laboratory for Avian Leukosis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Co-built Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Products Engineering Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Scientific Observation and Experimental Station for Pathogenic Biology of Animal Epidemics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Shandong Sino-German Cooperative Research Center for Zoonotic Infectious Diseases of Animal Origin, Shandong Engineering Technology Research Center for Prevention and Control of Livestock and Poultry Diseases, Co-built Shandong Engineering Research Center for Animal Microecological Preparations, Shandong Provincial University Key Laboratory of Animal Bioengineering and Zoonoses Prevention and Control, and Shandong Provincial University Engineering Research Center of Animal Vaccines. It has cultivated more than 12,000 outstanding alumni, including Academician Shi Yufang of the European Academy of Sciences and Academician Zhang Qijing of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.

Designated as a Provincial Characteristic College of Shandong, it hosts two Shandong Provincial Key Disciplines: Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Basic Veterinary Medicine, and delivers a complete multi-tiered talent training system spanning undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral education. Three undergraduate majors are offered: Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Public Health, and Animal Pharmaceutics. The college authorizes a first-level master’s program in Veterinary Medicine covering four research directions (Basic Veterinary Medicine, Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Public Health), a first-level doctoral program in Veterinary Medicine with three research directions (Basic Veterinary Medicine, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Public Health), and a Postdoctoral Research Station of Veterinary Medicine. It specializes in cultivating high-caliber professionals for animal epidemic prevention and control, small animal clinical diagnosis and treatment, biomedical research and development, and veterinary public health management.

Currently, the college enrolls 1,352 undergraduates, 433 full-time postgraduates (including 40 doctoral students), 45 part-time postgraduates and 8 on-station postdoctoral researchers.

The college has 97 faculty and staff members in total, among whom 72 are professional teachers, including 21 professors, 36 associate professors, 22 doctoral supervisors and 59 master’s supervisors. The talent pool includes 1 expert selected into the National Ten-Thousand Talents Program, 1 expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, 1 National Distinguished Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions, 1 Young Shennong Talent, 1 Position Scientist of the National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System, 1 Taishan Scholar Distinguished Expert, 1 Distinguished Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions of Shandong Province, 1 Taishan Industrial Leading Talent, 3 Young Taishan Scholars, 8 Position Experts of Shandong Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System and 1 Provincial Distinguished Teacher of Shandong.

The Teaching and Research Section of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology is recognized as a Model Grassroots Teaching Organization of Shandong General Undergraduate Universities; the Avian Diseases Teaching Team is a Huang Danian-style Teaching Team of Shandong Agricultural University, and the Preventive Veterinary Medicine Supervisory Team is one of the University’s Top Ten Postgraduate Supervisory Teams.

The college features prominent practical skill training for students. A 3,850-square-meter Teaching Veterinary Hospital and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Experimental Station are fully accessible to students. It has jointly built industry-education research institutes and industry-education colleges with enterprises and institutions across and outside Shandong Province, and established over 70 off-campus teaching, research and practical training bases to comprehensively upgrade students’ practical capabilities. Its students have repeatedly claimed Special Grand Prizes in national competitions such as the National Veterinary Professional Skills Competition and National Small Animal Practitioner Skills Competition. To deepen international exchanges and cooperation, the college carries out joint student training programs with overseas universities including Kentucky State University, Truman State University and Free University of Berlin, Germany.

High-end platforms lay a solid foundation for academic heights, and broad stages help students fulfill their dreams. Embarking on a new journey, all faculty and students of the college will adhere to the three-in-one talent training standard of Knowledge, Competence and Integrity, fulfill the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, take disciplinary development as the core driver, talent team development as the priority, and social and economic demands as the orientation, forge ahead with perseverance, pioneer innovation and strive for new achievements.