Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was established in accordance with the additional articles 30 and 158 of the Law No. 2809, with the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 2018/11959 published in the Official Gazette dated 14.06.2018 and numbered 30451. It is the first Faculty of Veterinary Medicine established in İzmir . For the first time, 60 students will be admitted in the 2019-2020 academic year and will start education in the Kiraz district of Izmir.

History of Veterinary Medicine Education and Training in Turkey

The first veterinary school in the world was established by Claude Bourgelat in 1762 in Lyon, France. The first Veterinary Medicine education in Turkey was started 80 years later, in 1842, by a Prussian military veterinarian named Godlewsky, by placing veterinary medicine courses in the cavalry schools in Istanbul with 12 students.

Lessons were given at the Military Academy in Maçka in 1849, at Taşkışla in 1853, and at the Military Medical School in Galatasaray in 1873. The teaching period was increased to four years, starting from the 1848-1849 period.

Curriculums in European veterinary faculties began to be implemented in 1853.

In 1881, the first civilian students were admitted to military schools.

In 1886, the first Veteran High School was established. In 1886, the first Veterinarian Secondary School was opened, from which the famous storyteller Ömer Seyfettin graduated. Students who graduated from this High School were entitled to go to the Military High School in Çengelköy and then to the Veterinary School.

In 1889, 25 veterinary students were admitted to Halkalı Agriculture and Veterinary School, whose construction was not completed yet and whose director was veterinarian Mehmet Ali Bey, and thus the Mülkiye Veterinary School was established. However, the students attended the preparatory school at the Medical School in Ahırkapı. In 1891, 19 of these students returned to the Civil Service Veteran School and graduated in 1893. Meanwhile, in 1892, the building of Halkalı Agriculture and Veterinary School was completed and officially opened for teaching. It gave its first graduates in 1893.

Our national poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy is among the first graduates of this school.

In 1894, the Mülkiye Veterinary School, which left Halkalı Agriculture and Veterinary School due to lack of space, continued its education in a rented building in Cindi Square. Among the students of this school was the famous poet and thinker Ziya Gökalp. However, Ziya Gökalp had to leave the school before graduating due to political reasons.

Veterinary School was transferred to a wing of the newly built Medical School building in Haydarpaşa district in 1905.

In 1909, a group of veterinarians were sent to Europe to specialize. These veterinarians are Fazlı Faik Yegül, Hilmi Dilgimen, Samuel Aysoy and Salih Zeki Berker, who later taught at the Higher Agricultural Institute and Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

In 1910, military schools were combined and the Military Veterinary School was established in Selimiye.

In 1920, the Civil Service Veterinary School and the Military Veterinary School were merged and the Veteran Mekteb-i Ali was established.

In 1928, Veteran Mekteb-i Ali was transferred from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Education and was named the High Veterinary School.

In 1933, the High Veterinary School in Istanbul was moved to Ankara under the name of “Veteran’s Faculty” and teaching began to be done in a better way with modern facilities.

In 1934, scientific terms were switched from Arabic to Latin.

In June 1937, the term “Veterinarian” was accepted instead of the term “Veterinarian” and the name of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was changed to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

In 1939, the teaching period at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was increased to five years.

In 1948, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine joined Ankara University.

Later, from the 1960s until today, Elazig, Istanbul, Bursa, Konya, Van, Kars, Aydın, Burdur, Diyarbakir, Urfa, Hatay, Kirikkale, Afyon, Kayseri, Erzurum, Samsun, Sivas, Tekirdag, Bingol, Balikesir, Adana, Siirt Veterinary Faculties were established in the provinces of , Aksaray, Muğla, Kastamonu, İzmir and Yozgat, and in Cyprus and Kyrgyzstan.