College of Veterinary Medicine

The offering of Veterinary Medicine traces its roots in 1992 when Veterinary Technology was first offered in Camarines Sur State Agricultural College (CSSAC) as a four-year course under the Department of Animal Science and Veterinary Technology (DASVT). In May 7, 1999, the Board of Trustees per Resolution NO. 323 signed by the College President Dr. Magno S. Conag, Jr., approved the offering of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). This was during the term of Dr. Julian Jose M. Trinidad as Chairperson of DASVT which was later named into Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (DAVS). In May 24 of the same year, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved the six-year DVM Curriculum. In 2004, Veterinary Medicine was separated from DAVS and it became as the Department of Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Alberto M. Cabrera as the first Chairperson. The first DVM graduates in 2005 garnered 100% passing percentage. In 2007, the department became an Institute during the presidency of Atty. Marito T. Bernales. During this year, the institute was recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) as the top performing veterinary school in the Philippines. In 2011, two years after the creation of CSSAC into Central Bicol State University of Agriculture, the institute was named as the College of Veterinary Medicine. In November 2013, CBSUA inaugurated the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Diagnostic Laboratory of the CVM to increase the clinical skills capacity of the students and assist in the development of the region in terms of animal care, welfare, productivity, and disease surveillance and monitoring. 

As the only institute offering DVM in the Bicol Region, the college has produced topnotchers in the licensure examination for Veterinary Medicine through the years: Dr. Honeylet Joven-Nicolas (top 7, 2005); Dr.  Romeo A. Traqueña, Jr. (top 7, 2008); Dr. Andrew B. Pagatpat (top 8, 2008); Dr. Mark Kevin I. Badiola (top 10, 2015); Dr. Monique Ajero-Pasiona (top 2, 2018); and Dr. Karl Robert F. Ador (top 3, 2019). 

Currently, the DVM program of the college has a Certificate of Program Compliance from the CHED-Region V Office. The program is Level II re-accredited by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc. The college also has an active collaboration with local and national institutions such as the Department of Agriculture Regional Office V, National Meat Inspection Society (NMIS)-Regional Office V, Philippine Veterinary Medical Association-Bicol Region and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine Off-Campus Program. It is also waiting for the approval of its membership application to the Asian Association of Veterinary Schools. 

To support to the veterinary programs of the government and increase veterinary services in the countryside, the college launched its extension project dubbed Barangay Veterinary Health Center in five communities in Pili namely San Jose, Palestina, Cadlan, Binanuanan, and Curry in 2015.  In 2020, the Barangay Veterinary Health Center was elevated into an extension program called the CVM KAAGAPAY on which the acronym stands for KAAlaman, GAbay, and PAYo to encompass all extension projects and activities of the college. The CVM Ethical Animal Research or EAR is another program of the college to fortify the existing Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University, disseminate information on ethical research on animals in Bicol Region and assist interested institutions that are interested in creating their own IACUC. 

As to research, the CVM was granted P3.5 million in December 2020 to conduct a research program titled Epidemiological Considerations on African Swine Fever (ASF) in Camarines Sur, Bicol Region. One of the outputs of this research program is the establishment of a Molecular Laboratory for diagnosis of ASF and other transboundary diseases in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Diagnostic Laboratory of the college.