Contributions of veterinary sciences to rural Colombia

Abstract

Higher education has a disciplinary structure. For this reason, it is relevant to analyze the contribution of a field of knowledge to a sector or social field. This is the purpose of this work, which seeks to understand the contribution of veterinary sciences (VS) to Colombian rurality and to provide feedback for educators and researchers. The study evaluated contribution to knowledge generation and the visibility of the relations between VS and rurality in the national context. 91 VS-oriented research groups were identified, 90 of which, with 1553 members, showed contribution to Colombian rurality. These groups are concentrated in the capitals of the Andean and north-west central cultural regions. 2219 rural publications were registered between 2006 and 2016. The article was the most frequently used resource (91%) in national and Spanish media. The main themes were: production (48.2%), animal health (19.1%), environment (13.2%), and epidemiology (7.5%). On the other hand, internet activity exposed the limited public interest in rural veterinary medicine, although upward trends were observed for “veterinary” and “veterinary, rural” results, which reflects a weak relationship between VS practice and Colombian rurality. This is reinforced by the lack of links and actions taken by the public agricultural sector to strengthen the education and provision of veterinary services. The results evidence the contribution of VS in Colombia and provide useful information for the planning of future rural strategies.