The Faculty of Veterinary Science Budapest, is the only veterinary school in Hungary. It is a state institution supervised and financed by the Ministry of Education (with the co-sponsorship of the Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development), and is accredited to issue the diplomas of Doctos of veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Master of Science (M.Sc.) in applied zoology, and the postgraduate degree of Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.) in veterinary sciences. The Faculty has an uninterrupted teaching record for more than two centuries, making it thus one of the oldest veterinary schools in the world.
Since 1989, in addition to a yearly enrollment of about 100 Hungarian students, international students have been continuously enrolled in Szent István Faculty of Veterinary Science. A full veterinary program has been instituted and is offered in English with the pre-clinical section also in German. Currently more than 300 international students from all over the world are studying veterinary medicine in Budapest. Recognizing the growing significance of protecting of our living environment, Applied Zoology has been introduced as a new major. In the meantime, the entire Hungarian higher education system has undergone a reorganization: the formerly autonomous smaller institutions have been united into large multifaculty universities. Owing to this integration process, the veterinary school is now part of the Szent István University as the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest.
The Budapest Veterinary Faculty, owing to its rich heritage and continued efforts to improve and adapt, has thus developed into a trilingual, internationally acknowledged European educational institution. Its new Mission Statement reflects the increasing social demand that today's veterinarian should not only care for the health and welfare of animals utilized in any way by us, but also should be a learned protector of the living environment.
The veterinary education offered at Szent István Faculty of Veterinary Science is directly comparable to any offered throughout the rest of Europe. Upon graduation, students are well prepared for working with everything from treating larger farm animals to exotic pets and expensive race horses. The education at Szent István also prepares students for work within the steadily growing field of animal product control.
