Veterinary science courses have been taught at MSU since the institution's founding in 1855. The College of Veterinary Medicine was formally established as a four-year, degree-granting program in 1910.
Today, the College includes four biomedical science departments—microbiology and molecular genetics, pathobiology and diagnostic investigation, pharmacology and toxicology, and physiology; two clinical departments—large-animal clinical sciences and small-animal clinical sciences; two service units—the Veterinary Medical Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; and several research centers.