CityU and Cornell’s Veterinary Partnership: How JCC Built a School Through Mentorship and Curriculum Licensing

This article belongs to the CityU Wild History 09 — Internationalisation module (Part 3 of the upper section). It focuses on the partnership mechanism, in place since 2009, between City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), which underpins CityU’s Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC). Figures and dates are drawn from official public sources; discrepancies are noted explicitly. For CityU’s broader international partnership landscape, see global-partnerships-and-exchange.md; for dual/joint degree programmes, see global-partnerships-and-exchange-2.md; for the institutional structure, accreditation, and teaching hospital of JCC itself, see the 11 Medical module: ../11-medical-hospital/veterinary-college.md.

In one line: CityU’s Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC) built its six-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) programme on the blueprint of Cornell’s DVM curriculum. Over more than fifteen years of deep collaboration—spanning curriculum design, faculty recruitment, joint PhD training, and summer extramural placements—the programme became the first in Asia to earn dual international accreditation from both the RCVS and the AVBC in 2023. Its inaugural cohort of 11 graduates have all completed registration to practise.

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# Why did CityU turn to Cornell?

In 2008, City University of Hong Kong set its sights on establishing the city’s first veterinary school and began searching for a top-tier partner that could offer a pathway to international accreditation. At the time, Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine^※ (CVM) had already ranked among the world’s top three veterinary programmes for years. It possessed a mature four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) curriculum, a widely respected clinical teaching hospital, and substantial research infrastructure. In 2009^※, CityU formally signed a collaboration agreement with Cornell, commissioning the American university to assist with “strategic planning, facility development, administration and faculty recruitment, admissions, and curriculum committee involvement.” From the outset, the relationship was structured as an educational export, not simply a run-of-the-mill exchange partnership.

The practical logic behind choosing Cornell lay in the accreditation pathway. The two most weighty international accrediting bodies in veterinary education—the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in the UK and the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC)—both treat curriculum compliance with their standards as the primary gatekeeping criterion. Cornell’s DVM programme was itself already accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Using that framework as a foundation promised to shave years off CityU’s journey to international accreditation. In effect, CityU was not importing a particular subject or module; it was importing an entire, battle-tested “accreditation blueprint.”

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# Was Cornell’s curriculum blueprint transplanted wholesale?

The short answer is: the structure aligns closely, but four locally tailored themes have been layered on top. According to CityU JCC’s programme overview^※, the BVM was “jointly developed using the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine DVM programme as a curricular model.” Concretely, the first two pre-clinical years of the CityU BVM comprehensively incorporate the prerequisite 42 credit units from Cornell’s DVM, and the programme adopts Cornell’s core pedagogy of Problem-based Learning (PBL) to integrate foundational sciences with clinical reasoning.

Overlaid on this framework, JCC embedded four local themes that run longitudinally right from day one:

Table compiled from JCC’s official curriculum theme descriptions^※. The four themes permeate all six years in parallel, beginning from Year 1, rather than being concentrated in a single phase.

The six-year BVM carries a total of 242 to 243 credit units^※, depending on the entry cohort, taken over twelve semesters, with a maximum candidature of nine years. Years 5 and 6 are fully clinical: students must complete 26 weeks of extramural studies^※, with clinical training spanning companion animals, equine, exotics and wildlife, aquatics, and production animals.

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# What “hands-on” work has Cornell actually done for the College?

The collaboration goes far beyond licensing a curriculum. According to Cornell CVM’s website^※, Cornell’s substantive involvement since 2009 has encompassed five specific mechanisms:

Table data sourced from Cornell CVM’s global collaborations page (vet.cornell.edu^※) and a CityU endowment promotional feature (2024-05-06).

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# What does “accreditation” actually mean here—and why is “dual” a first for Asia?

On 25 September 2023^※, CityU announced that the BVM had simultaneously earned accreditation from both the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) of the United Kingdom and the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC)—the first time any veterinary programme in Asia had achieved dual accreditation. The two accreditation systems carry distinct meanings:

Professor Vanessa Barrs, Dean of JCC, was quoted in the announcement as saying the dual accreditation demonstrates that “JCC is on the right path to developing Hong Kong into an international hub for veterinary training and research.^※” The Chairman of CityU’s Council, Lester Garson Huang^※ (黃先生), stated: “The dual international accreditation is a strong testament to the high standards and quality of our veterinary programme.” Additionally, the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong recognises the BVM as a qualifying veterinary degree; graduates may register in Hong Kong without sitting any further examination.

From the perspective of the educational landscape, the rarity of dual accreditation lies in the fact that the assessment criteria of the RCVS and the AVBC do not overlap completely. Satisfying both sets of standards simultaneously requires a curriculum of high systemic rigour—precisely the outcome of adopting and rigorously implementing the Cornell DVM framework.

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# The first cohort: a milestone in October 2023

On 28 October 2023^※, JCC held its first BVM graduation ceremony. Eleven^※ students became Hong Kong’s first-ever graduates to complete a six-year veterinary medicine degree. All eleven completed registration with the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong and were licensed to practise. Thanks to the RCVS and AVBC accreditation, they simultaneously qualified for registration in the United Kingdom and in Australia/New Zealand. The entire cohort chose to stay in Hong Kong for employment, serving the local animal health sector. For the full context behind this milestone—why even eleven graduates merit such attention, and the institutional prerequisites for professional registration—see ../11-medical-hospital/veterinary-college-2.md.

Dr. Lorin Warnick, Dean of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Caroline Yancey, Associate Dean for International Programmes, travelled from Ithaca, New York, to Hong Kong to attend the ceremony. At the event, Dr. Yancey remarked: “This new veterinary college at CityU will contribute significantly to advancing veterinary education and research and to the advancement of animal health in the region.^※”

First intake in 2017, first graduates in 2023: a complete six-year cycle came full circle. It marked the moment when the “build-a-school-from-scratch” blueprint, planned jointly by CityU and Cornell since 2009, formally entered its phase of producing veterinary talent.

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# The partnership deepens: new developments in 2024 and 2025

The collaboration did not plateau once accreditation was achieved. According to a CityU report in May 2024^※, CityU President Professor Freddy Boey led a delegation to Cornell for high-level talks with Cornell President Professor Martha E. Pollack, Provost Professor Michael Kotlikoff, CVM Dean Professor Lorin Warnick, and College of Engineering Dean Professor Lynden Archer. The discussion agenda included “joint graduate degree programmes” and a “digital health initiative.” JCC Dean Vanessa Barrs and CityU College of Engineering Dean Lu Jian (魯堅) also participated in the meetings.

From 10 to 12 November 2025,^※ a Cornell delegation paid a return visit to JCC. Members included Vice Provost for International Affairs Dr. Wendy Wolford, CVM Dean Lorin Warnick, and Associate Dean for International Programmes Caroline Yancey. The delegation toured JCC’s clinical skills laboratory, the newly constructed Necropsy Suite, the CityU Veterinary Medical Centre, and previewed plans for the Jockey Club One Health Tower, which was then under construction. They held dedicated sessions with junior faculty, BVM students, and joint PhD candidates. The two universities reaffirmed “their shared commitment to pioneering new standards in veterinary education and research.”

Furthermore, during the 2024 meetings, it was confirmed that the VET-STAR flagship scholarship, designed for top BVM undergraduates admitted via JUPAS, had been officially launched. Recipients can travel to Cornell for summer placements in leadership, research, and business, further institutionalising the talent-development pipeline between the two institutions.

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# Cornell’s own global standing: why this partnership carries weight

To grasp the heft of this collaboration, one must understand where the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine sits globally. According to the 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject: Veterinary Science^※, Cornell is ranked third^※ in the world for the discipline (QS score 92.6, behind only the Royal Veterinary College, University of London at 97.8 and the University of California, Davis at 94.4). CityU JCC’s own programme overview notes that the partner is “the third-ranked veterinary educational institution worldwide^※” (using JCC’s own wording).

Cornell CVM operates one of the largest teaching referral animal hospitals in the sector at its Ithaca campus, handling over 80,000 cases annually, and its DVM programme incorporates more than 1,200 hours of clinical training. This also explains why, before CityU’s own facilities were fully built, JCC arranged a five-week summer Cornell extramural placement for Year 1 undergraduate students—to bridge that initial gap in local clinical capacity.

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# Summary: dissecting a “mentorship-style” collaboration

The partnership between CityU JCC and Cornell is a rare example within Hong Kong higher education of a genuinely “deep institutional-building” model of internationalisation. It goes far beyond naming rights or swapping a few exchange students: it is a complete educational export and quality-assurance architecture, encompassing the skeleton of a curriculum, the accreditation pathway, the source of faculty expertise, and research-focused doctoral training.

All figures cited in this article are supported by primary official sources; verifiable materials include the CityU JCC website, the Cornell CVM website, official CityU press releases, and a CityU endowment promotional feature. For specific admissions information (e.g., an annual intake of 30 undergraduate students), please refer to the current-year page^※ of the CityU Admissions Office as figures may be adjusted annually.

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# Further reading

• CityU’s broad international partnership landscape → global-partnerships-and-exchange.md
• CityU’s dual-degree programme with Columbia University (another flagship international partnership) → global-partnerships-and-exchange-2.md
• JCC’s institutional structure, the six-year BVM, teaching hospital, and diagnostic laboratory → ../11-medical-hospital/veterinary-college.md

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