Integrating One Health into Veterinary and Para-veterinary Curricula: Harmonized Competencies for a Resilient Workforce

The field of veterinary and para-veterinary education is at a pivotal juncture in responding to complex global challenges—including zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Recent crises, exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, have exposed the limitations of conventional sector-specific training and underscored the necessity for a workforce versed in the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. While the One Health framework has gained prominence in policy and advocacy circles, there is significant heterogeneity in how its core competencies are embedded in educational programs across the globe. Efforts to reform curricula are often fragmented, with One Health content relegated to elective modules or sporadic initiatives, resulting in insufficient and uneven preparation for graduates facing interdisciplinary realities. Foundational studies, such as the guidance from Laing et al. (2023), provide important direction, yet there remains a pressing need to translate these frameworks into coherent, scalable, and evidence-based practice within veterinary and para-veterinary education.

This Research Topic aims to foster transformative integration of One Health Core Competencies in veterinary and para-veterinary education by bringing together curricular frameworks, mapped competencies, validated assessment tools, and real-world case studies. The primary objective is to advance a competency-based approach that bridges educational innovation with the evolving needs of animal health professionals across sectors and disciplines. Specifically, the Research Topic seeks to stimulate dialogue and empirical inquiry on how measurable, transferable, and aligned curricula can empower graduates to lead collaborative, systems-level responses to contemporary and emerging health threats. By encouraging the development and dissemination of actionable strategies, this effort aspires to inform curriculum reform that is responsive, sustainable, and oriented toward the achievement of global health goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

To gather further insights in the integration of One Health into veterinary and related animal health education, this Research Topic focuses on approaches, tools, and policies that support a harmonised and resilient workforce. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Embedding One Health Core Competencies in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula

o Alignment and mapping of competencies against global One Health frameworks (WOAH, EAEVE, AVMA, etc.)

o Development and validation of instruments, assessment tools, and open educational resources enabling cross-institutional or cross-regional application

o Case studies and evaluations of interprofessional and transdisciplinary education involving veterinary, medical, environmental, or social sciences

o Analyses of institutional, policy, and accreditation frameworks facilitating One Health integration in animal and veterinary education

o Comparative and multi-country studies on cultural, educational, and governance factors influencing curricular adoption

o Systematic reviews and policy analyses identifying enablers, barriers, and governance models for implementation

This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Curriculum design papers, Case Studies, Brief Reports, Methods articles, Policy and Practice Reviews, Curriculum/Education Reports, Systematic Reviews, and Opinion papers, as well as studies on curriculum mapping, empirical evaluation, validated assessment instruments, and open educational resources.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: One Health, Veterinary education, Para-veterinary training, Curriculum design, Competency-based education, Interprofessional education/learning, Pedagogical innovation, Capacity-building, Transdisciplinary learning, Assessment tools, Workforce development, One health educational innovation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.