Veterinary students sent to Europe by the Ottoman State

Abstract

In the Ottoman State, with the initiation of the reformation movement in the eighteenth century, it was aimed to both keep up with the scientific developments that had gained momentum in Europe at that time, and to apply these novelties to the state institutions. Within this scope, in order to establish the teaching staff of the schools that had been newly founded in view of the European model, firstly it was resorted to the tutorship of European experts. Thereafter, with an aim to establish permanent academic staff for these schools, Turkish students were started to be sent to Europe to be trained. Veterinary students were also included among these students, who visited European countries for military, professional and technical training. The practice of sending doctors, who were graduates of the Civil Medical School, and students of the Military Veterinary School to Europe for veterinary medical education was continued in the following years by sending veterinarians to European countries for specialisation training in various branches of veterinary medicine. These veterinarians, who successfully completed their education, were either appointed as teaching staff at the veterinary schools or employed at various public institutions, upon their return to Istanbul. Many of these students made significant contributions to veterinary education as well as to occupational organisations and established the basis of the development of the academic fields of veterinary medicine in Turkey. This study both reveals new information gathered on veterinary students sent by the Ottoman State to Europe for training and provides an assessment of the implications of this practice in view of the history of veterinary medicine.