After several months of discussions, the Cornell China Dairy Institute launched Sept. 6 in Sanhe in the Hebei province, 37 miles east of Beijing.

The institute is a four-week continuing education collaboration between Cornell and Huaxia Dairy to give Chinese dairy veterinarians an opportunity to learn about American veterinary practices.

Modeled after Cornell's highly successful Summer Dairy Institute, which has trained 134 food supply veterinarians over the last seven years, the program will be taught by six Cornell veterinarians, who will be supported by two current veterinary students and one laboratory technician. Veterinarians will rotate through the program, each spending about 10 days on site, and will focus on veterinary issues that are related to dairy production. Two dozen veterinarians are registered for the inaugural institute.

Organizations supporting the program include Hebei Sanhe City Vocational Education College, Pfizer, the U.S. Grains Council, Land O' Lakes and the government of Sanhe.

"The program is a unique collaboration between a private dairy farm, Chinese educational and government institutions and a U.S. veterinary college," said Lorin Warnick, associate dean for veterinary education at Cornell. "The institute, which we hope will be the first of many initiatives with veterinarians in the area, will be taught on a private farm, making hands-on learning a prominent part of the course." Classes will be held at Hebei Sanhe City Vocational Education College and clinical skills labs will be held at the Huaxia dairy farm.

"Our goal is to improve the clinical abilities and knowledge of veterinary staff working on modern dairy farms in China," said Warnick. "We think the learning will be more thorough, more relevant and more enduring if the training is offered on site, where the issues are real, immediate, and decisions matter."

Instruction has been tailored to meet the needs of the veterinary community in China; it will focus on such topics as how to care for sick cows, calf health and heifer raising, dairy reproduction and techniques for ensuring safe, wholesome milk production. Cornell veterinarians will offer instruction in English that will be translated into Mandarin by local translators.

"Our veterinarians are thirsty for the information that Cornell can share," said Charles Shao, CEO and chairman of Huaxia Dairy Farm, who said that China's dairy industry is in a growth phase. "There is an intense desire to improve efficiency and production in China and to be able to support increased consumer demand for high quality milk and dairy products. This collaboration has the potential to have a strong impact on the delivery of veterinary services to dairy farms in China."

The program, which will be funded by Huaxia Dairy, corporate sponsors and with tuition revenue from program participants, also supports two Vet College strategic plan goals: to raise the standards for veterinary practice around the world and to provide additional teaching opportunities for Cornell veterinary students who may be interested in a career in academia.

"With China now being the world's second largest economy and third largest milk producer, I see this as a unique opportunity to go there and see how they operate," said Will Leone of the Class of 2011, who intends to work in the field of food animal production after graduation. "I expect that I will learn just as much as I teach during this experience."