TEN Filipino mentors have completed a four-month training in veterinary science under the United States Department of Agriculture Faculty Exchange Program (USDA-FEP) on Veterinary Science and Medicine at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Three of the Filipino USDA-FEP fellows are from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and one each from Benguet State University (BSU), Cavite State University (CvSU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Isabela State University (ISU), Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU), and Visayas State University (VSU).
The fellows include university mentors Mary Jasmin Ang, Emmanuel Hernandez and Jesalyn Constante (UPLB); Samanatha Aquino (BSU); Nelson Montialto (CvSU); Marvin Bryan Salinas (CLSU); Karina Marie Nicolas (ISU); Joan Rarogal (MMSU); Haidee Torio (NVSU); and Santiago Peña Jr. (VSU).
The training program aims to enhance the teaching and research skills of participants from different countries.
USDA-FEP supported the design and delivery of training activities for university professors in Veterinary Science from the Philippines and Vietnam.
Veterinary training design and training under the FEP must include a curriculum that addresses science-based Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) issues that connect to international trade.
Designed and organized with US universities, USDA and other government agencies, FEP emphasizes the development of improved and updated courses and curricula, teaching and student assessment methods, exposure to current research techniques, and practical field experiences while the fellows study in the US.
FEP also includes follow-up visits by US host professor-mentors to the fellow's home country.
While visiting the participants' universities, US faculty members are expected to assess progress on the implementation of courses developed during the US-based portion of the program and should continue to encourage collaboration between the US and participating universities.
FEP began in 1995 to bring junior or mid-level university professors from countries in the former Soviet Union to the US for one semester to increase their knowledge of, and ability to, teach agricultural economics, marketing, and agribusiness management at their home institutions.
Between 2002 to 2012, the program evolved to also include an agricultural science area, which focused on subjects such as animal health, food quality, food inspection, phytosanitary measures, and grades and standards and involved scientists from Africa and Central America in addition to Eastern Europe and Eurasian countries.
Starting in 2016, the FEP narrowed its geographic focus solely to Africa, and to the area of Veterinary Science.
Since 2016, this Veterinary Science area of the program has hosted 71 early to mid-career instructors at Colleges of Veterinary Science and Medicine from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
FEP further expanded in 2021 to host early to mid-career instructors at Colleges of Veterinary Science and Medicine from all over Africa, including new participant countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Morocco.
For the 2022 program, the FEP shifted focus to veterinary medicine in Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam and the Philippines. In 2023, FEP continued the program in Southeast Asia, again with a specific focus on Vietnam and the Philippines.
The purpose of the FEP is to assist developing countries with improvements to their university agricultural education, research, and extension programs by providing a one-semester training program at US Land Grant Agricultural Universities.
Participants upgrade their technical knowledge in their subject area and learn new teaching methods through class observation, and new research methods through experience in the lab, short courses, and/or one-on-one instruction.
FEP also assists fellows in researching additional public/private grants/funding opportunities as well as proposal writing.