The establishment of veterinary schools in North America occurred less than one century later than in Europe: lessons learned by the European founders were shared in Canada and the United States. The first continuously operating veterinary schools in North America were founded in Canada - the Ontario Veterinary College in 1862 in Toronto, Canada, followed by the private Montreal Veterinary College in Quebec, Canada in1866. The two Canadian colleges, along with the European veterinary schools, supplied trained veterinarians and veterinary educators to the United States until veterinary education in America was established at the end of the 19th century. The early American veterinary colleges were private and temporary institutions with the first established in Philadelphia in 1852 and the last closing in 1927. It was the established land grant colleges that added agricultural and veterinary courses to their curricula that later evolved into permanent veterinary medical schools in the university system including: Iowa State Agricultural College in 1879; Ohio State University in 1885; and Cornell University in 1895.

Issues similar to those faced by European school founders occurred in North America, namely:
• lack of government funding;
• inability to become associated with a higher education institution such as a university;
• focus on equine practice; and
• locating in large metropolitan centres.

The first continuously operating veterinary schools in North America were founded in Canada. The early American veterinary colleges were private and temporary institutions with the first established in Philadelphia in 1852 and the last closing in 1927.

Authors represented in the Rosen collection who influenced veterinary education in North America include Louis Merillat (1868-1956), Septimus Sisson (1865-1924), and James Law (1838-1921) in the United States, and Duncan McEachran (1841-1924) and Andrew Smith (1834-1910) in Canada. William Dick from the Edinburgh school had a substantial impact on the development of veterinary education in North America, through the school he founded and the graduates he mentored. According to Smithcors (1957, p. 319), “... no fewer than seven of Dick’s students became deans of veterinary schools in the United Kingdom and in America." Carrying the traditions of the Edinburgh School to North America were alumni from the classes of 1861 and 1862, including Andrew Smith, James Law and Duncan McEachran. Andrew Smith founded the first successful veterinary college in North American in 1862 in Toronto, Canada, as the Ontario Veterinary College. Duncan McEachran founded the Montreal Veterinary College in 1866. In the United States, James Law became the first professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell University, a land grant college, in 1868.

William Dick from the Edinburgh school had a substantial impact on the development of veterinary education in North America, through the school he founded and the graduates he mentored. According to Smithcors (1957, p. 319), “... no fewer than seven of Dick’s students became deans of veterinary schools in the United Kingdom and in America."

Veterinary Education Introduction
Veterinary Education in the United States
Canadian Veterinary Education
European Veterinary Education
British Veterinary Education

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