Every student we train shapes the health of countless animals and communities.
By 2030, California alone is projected to face a shortfall of 2,500 veterinarians with urgent gaps in shelter, equine and livestock medicine. These shortages echo across the nation, leaving families, ranchers, and communities without the expertise they rely on.
Behind the Numbers Are Stories
Every statistic represents a story: a family searching for help for their beloved pet; a rancher waiting for care for their herd; a shelter animal in need of treatment.
Our Answer: The Veterinary Medical Complex
With the new Veterinary Medical Complex, UC Davis is transforming these stories. Here, we will train more veterinarians, harness breakthrough technologies, and prepare leaders ready to serve animals, people, and the planet.
Together, we can ensure that no animal—whether on the family couch or in the pasture—goes without care.
Voices from the Frontline
“It’s hard to overstate the impact of the workforce challenge that we’re that we’re facing…We have the faculty who are driven to share their knowledge and skills, and students who are hungry to learn. We just need the space to bring them together.”
Kate Hurley, DVM, Program Director, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Expanding Educational Excellence
UC Davis’ veterinary education program is the best in the country. Every year, we enroll the maximum number of students our classrooms can hold, but they represent only a fraction of the impressive applicants eager to join the profession. The demand for veterinary training is great, and the new Veterinary Medical Complex will provide the opportunity to educate more veterinarians with cutting-edge skills, hands-on clinical experience, and the interdisciplinary training needed to lead the future of animal, human, and environmental health.
Meeting the Challenge with New Capacity
The new Veterinary Medical Complex is designed to expand opportunity and meet this growing challenge. By expanding our Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) student body from 600 to 800, UC Davis will educate more veterinarians who will go on to transform animal and human health across California, the nation, and the world.
We can transform veterinary medicine’s impact on our world.
