Hanover pursuing innovative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program

The DVM program will be Hanover’s third doctoral-level offering

Answering the critical need for more veterinary professionals, Hanover College plans to launch a hybrid, accelerated Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program with its first cohort starting in August 2026. The College’s board of trustees and faculty recently voted to move forward with the project and begin seeking accreditor approval.

The U.S. currently faces a significant shortage of livestock and public-health veterinarians in rural areas, which creates a substantial public policy concern due to implications for public health and food safety. Nearly half of Indiana’s 92 counties are listed as underserved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Indiana State Board of Animal Health, including much of southern Indiana.

Hanover’s program will address this crucial need for veterinary professionals, particularly in Indiana, which ranks in the top five nationally in turkey, hog, duck and egg production. The Hoosier State also supports the nation’s $27.8 billion pet-care industry with the sixth-highest percentage of pet owners in the country.

“Indiana is an agricultural state with a growing biotech and agriscience industry,” stated Hanover President Lake Lambert. “To support all of those needs, Indiana needs more trained veterinary professionals and this program is going to make that possible.”

Hanover is well positioned to attract students nationally, especially those preferring an intimate, rural, small-college setting. There are only 33 doctor of veterinary medicine programs in the U.S. and just one DVM program and veterinary nursing program in Indiana. Regionally, the closest veterinary programs are Purdue University, Ohio State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There are no accredited DVM programs in Kentucky.

Currently, more than 10,000 qualified students apply to accredited veterinary programs each year with fewer than 5,000 seats available in the U.S. “Many qualified candidates who want to be veterinarians have to go abroad to seek a veterinary education,” added Lambert. “This is a tremendous loss of talent for Indiana, so our program creates a great opportunity to attract and retain more talent to Indiana.”

Hanover’s distinctive hybrid approach to veterinary education will follow guidelines set by the Higher Learning Commission and the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE). The first-of-its-kind doctoral program will feature a blend of online lectures and discussions, along with centralized laboratory and regional clinical experiences. Students will complete the curriculum in three years, which increases accessibility and reduces debt.

The College’s year-round program will be separated into nine semesters. During the first four semesters, the curriculum will include animal anatomy and physiology, clinical communication and simulation-oriented surgical and medical skills. The fifth and sixth semesters will focus on field-based clinical courses and patient care. Students will be placed into intensive clinical rotations throughout the seventh, eighth and ninth semesters.

Hanover’s DVM program also provides an avenue for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana-Madison Campus to launch a uniquely integrated veterinary nursing curriculum. In conjunction with Hanover’s program, Ivy Tech Madison will offer an associate-degree-level veterinary nursing program, with approval from necessary accrediting organizations. These veterinary nursing students will pursue licensure as a registered veterinary technician (RVT) and work in practices, laboratories or agribusiness/bioscience industries.

The Hanover-Ivy Tech partnership will make a significant educational, economic and healthcare impact within the region. The collaboration will become one of just five in the U.S. where doctoral and veterinary nurse students share training opportunities. The side-by-side training helps all students build team-member skills with enhanced experience and rigor through the doctoral-level faculty.

The cooperative agreement allows Ivy Tech to use Hanover’s teaching center rent-free and share operational costs based on student enrollments. Ivy Tech-Madison Chancellor Amanda Harsin stated, “The opportunity to share these facilities affords us the opportunity to offer Indiana more veterinary professional in a more cost-effective way.”

A $5.9 million grant received in 2022 through Indiana’s statewide Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) will provide significant assistance covering an expected $16.5 million in facilities and operational start-up costs. These costs include the construction/renovation and furnishing of buildings on Hanover’s campus, in addition to the hiring of doctoral-level faculty and associated staff.

Hanover plans to locate the veterinary operation near the Scenic Drive entrance to campus, adjacent to Indiana Highway 56-62. The College will construct and/or renovate buildings to accommodate the program, including a veterinary clinic, anatomy and physiology suite, necropsy laboratory and faculty/staff offices.

Hanover will initiate accreditation procedures with the Higher Learning Commission and AVMA COE in 2024. The two-year process will require consultative site visits, self-study and a comprehensive site visit. Student recruitment may begin during accreditation. The first cohort will include 80 students. Each subsequent class will expand to 100 students per cohort by the third year. Full capacity will include a maximum total enrollment of 300 DVM students.

The DVM program will be Hanover’s third doctoral-level offering. The College launched a Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2021 and its Doctor of Occupational Therapy program will begin classes January 2024.