Veterinary Medicine and Research Strategic Plan 2026 - 2028
You can download the full PDF of the Strategic Plan here
The Department of Veterinary Medicine on the University’s West Cambridge Site is a large, multidisciplinary department hosting small animal and equine hospitals and farm animal clinical services, alongside cutting edge scientific research. These different facets combine to train our outstanding veterinary and postgraduate students. The veterinary profession has changed profoundly in the last 15 years with general practices, and increasingly specialist referral centres, mostly integrated into large corporate businesses. The importance of public health, in the wake of a zoonotic global pandemic and climate change transforming the infectious diseases seen in both animals and humans, means it is vital our students are trained to thrive in this changing world. To meet these challenges Cambridge integrates a unique third year into the veterinary course where students specialise in one of the many opportunities provided by the wider university, for example in science, conservation, policy or management. Our graduates are, therefore, fully trained veterinarians ideally placed for diverse careers not only in general, referral or academic clinical practice, but also in conservation, government or industry.
The Department is led by Professor Mark Holmes, assisted by the three Deputy Heads; Professor Jane Dobson (Teaching and Clinical Dean), Professor Julian Parkhill (Research), Professor Clare Bryant (Strategy), along with Nick Bexfield (Hospital Managing Director), and the Business & Operations Manager (Alex Drury). Each area of the Department is managed by a leadership committee (Research, Teaching, Hospital Business and Administration), composed of both senior and more junior members of staff to ensure succession planning, which reports into the Strategy and Executive Committee.
The University of Cambridge’s mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. In an environment where equality and diversity is at the core of our activities our inspirational teaching combining science, clinical and communication skills trains outstanding future veterinary surgeons.
The impact of our world leading One Health research ranges from influencing policy to developing new therapeutics improving the global health of man and animals. Our mission, therefore, is to provide global leadership in One Health education, research and clinical care to equip our students with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing profession in a world under pressure from climate change.
Our Goals:
- Provide a world leading One Health veterinary education.
- Deliver pioneering fundamental and clinical research to generate innovative solutions to One Health challenges.
- Create a supportive, inclusive and collaborative environment.
- Ensure the school is adequately supported to deliver its strategy.
- Leverage our expertise to inform decision making by policy makers, regulatory bodies, industry and the public locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
- Ensure governance and compliance are effective to reduce risk.
Education
Our exceptional staff deliver a unique One Health veterinary course which integrates a deep scientific understanding with outstanding clinical and communication skills.
Our graduates are equipped to become excellent veterinary surgeons, biological scientists and policy makers who will be international leaders of their profession.
Research
Our One Health research connects human, animal and environmental health, collaborating across veterinary, medical, environmental and social sciences.
We lead global research into zoonoses, emerging infections and the genetic / mechanistic basis of diseases that affect both humans and animals. We will put forward new solutions to the One Health challenges of our society.
- To uphold the rights of the individual to freedom of thought, freedom of expression and access to education.
- To foster and always strive to improve, a culture that respects the diversity of our students, academics, non-academic staff, and value their different expertise and contributions to the life of the Department.
- To instil in our graduates, staff and alumni a life-long passion for the pursuit of excellence in veterinary medicine and an understanding of their responsibility to engage with the public about their research.
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A commitment to quality assurance and quality improvement in the delivery of our mission.
Our Goal
To provide a world leading One Health veterinary education.
Three Year Objectives:
- Achieve and exceed international accreditation standards.
- Develop and launch a One Health MPhil.
- Grow our research grant income, particularly by securing further funding for One Health research projects.
- Modernise and expand clinical services to enhance education, research, and impact.
Our Goal
To deliver pioneering fundamental and clinical research to generate innovative and sustainable solutions to One Health challenges.
Three Year Objectives
- Map existing One Health research within the department to capitalise on our strengths.
- Grow our research grant income; particularly by securing further funding for One Health research projects.
- Launch a One Health Seminar Series.
- Help pioneer the development of the Cambridge One Health Research Institute.
- Increase knowledge exchange, public engagement and commercial partnerships.
- Map out the pathways to help maximise REF2029 returns.
Our Goal
To create a supportive, inclusive and collaborative environment.
Three Year Objectives:
- Commit to best practice to ensure we provide an inclusive, diverse and nurturing community
- Ensure an inclusive and transparent approach to decision-making
- Enable our people to achieve their potential through setting clear expectations, providing mentoring support and constructive appraisals
- Encourage participation in the learning and development activities provided by the University to help people further their skills to fulfil their potential
Our Goal
To ensure the school is adequately supported to deliver its strategy.
Three Year Objectives:
- Determine the best model for delivery of teaching in Years 4-6 by engaging with external stakeholders and consulting with accreditors.
- Develop financially viable delivery of clinical services, including growing first opinion cases, to support student education.
- Determine the infrastructure requirements to deliver teaching in Years 4-6.
- Perform SWOT analysis to identify potential income from diverse revenue sources eg graduate entry course, masters course, CPD.
- Plan for the development of a new One Health Clinical School at Cambridge.
Our Goal
To leverage our expertise to inform decision making by policy makers, regulatory bodies, industry and the public locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
Three Year Objectives:
- Participate in the Cambridge Festival and the Cambridge Alumni Festival.
- Engage with local, regional and national media to promulgate important research and clinical advances.
- Consolidate and expand global partnerships in research, education and industry.
- Influence policy makers and regulators locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
Our Goal
To ensure governance and compliance are effective to reduce risk.
Three Year Objectives:
- Ensure effective risk management by maintaining and annually updating our risk register.
- Maintain our incident management and business continuity plan in line with University guidelines.
- Restore full accreditation status across regulatory bodies.
Our strategic plan is a living document currently outlining short term goals. It is developed in consultation across the department with all staff to ensure full inclusivity and ownership of the strategic decision making process within our school.
To deliver a first class veterinary course, research growth, and financial sustainability requires buy in from everyone across our organisation.
We have faced considerable challenges, particularly around accreditation and financial sustainability of our clinical services. Our remarkable staff, with the support of the University of Cambridge accreditation office, have delivered solid foundations for our reaccreditation. We now need longer term planning to develop our new vision of how to deliver veterinary education and to plan a new One Health Clinical school.
Underpinning each of our goals are our teams (education, research, clinical services) who will plan together to achieve our objectives.
Each team will draw in members from across the school and the wider University to delivery our strategy.
Teams will draw up and own SMART action plans to deliver our strategy and measure our success.
The team leads will provide progress reports to the strategy and executive committee who will help to track our performance against our strategic plan and assess our success.
We will share our progress and the development of the strategic plan at town hall meetings on a quarterly basis.
