Veterinary students have the opportunity to learn the business aspects of running a veterinary practice, for free.

The course, “Strategies for Success: Lead Your Practice to a New Level,” is taught online by Donald Draper, university professor of biomedical sciences.

“The course is offered free of charge for Iowa State veterinary students,” said Draper, the program’s designer. “They are provided with a free download called Unity Conference System that allows the students to interact with the instructor and other students to learn new things at the same time.”

The program is funded by a grant from the Coleman Foundation, and is delivered through the Veterinary Internet Network located in Davis, Calif. The course is provided to teach both ISU veterinary students and practicing veterinarians around the globe the importance of leadership, financial, marketing and employee management to create a successful practice.

The course meets online one night a week from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Central Time.

“The way that students benefit from this is that it provides them with the fundamental skills that one needs to operate a successful veterinary business,” Draper said. “[In veterinary school,] Students learn a lot about the technical aspects of veterinary medicine, but they learn very little about running a business.”

The course is divided into five separate modules from March to December. Each session lasts five weeks and covers a different topic on how to make a veterinary business prosper. The first module had about 40 students enrolled, but Draper expects as many as 66 in the second.

“The reason we designed it this way is because veterinary practitioners are very busy and may not be able to continue throughout the entire year with the course,” Draper said. “This way they can just take the sections of the course that interest them.”

Each module’s content must be approved by the national Registry of Approved Continuing Education. Upon completion, the course is worth 10 continuing education credits.

“We have people from Thailand, Australia, Canada as well as the United States taking the course,” Draper said. “If someone misses a lecture, they can simply go to the online library that’s provided and read it.”

He has noticed a significant increase in the number of students taking the classes.

“Since we began offering these online classes in 1991 the number of students increased from 100 to 10,000,” he said.