Medycyna Weterynaryjna (Veterinary Medicine) was founded in May/June of 1945 by a group of professors at the newly established Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. In a short time the journal gained a high degree of recognition, since it was initially the only Polish periodical that combined an academic with a practical approach. During the course of over sixty years of its publication Veterinary Medicine has undergone a good number of organizational changes on account of the particular political situation in Poland at various periods. In 1956 Medycyna Weterynaryjna became connected with the newly founded Polish Association of Veterinary Sciences. To date the journal is the official organ of the association. Initially the periodical was administratively subordinated to the State Agricultural Publishers. Being dependent on a state organ was obligatory for all Polish periodicals at that time.

Essential changes in the functioning of Medycyna Weterynaryjna took place in 1989 when with the fall of Communism the reorganization of all periodicals took place and they were faced with the necessity of financial self-sufficiency. In this manner, from 1990 Veterinary Medicine became an editorially independent and self-financing periodical. A significant role in the development and activities of the periodical was played by the different editorial boards, especially the editors-in-chief, who were in principal professors of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lublin. There were four of them to date (Józef Parnas 05-07.1945; Alfred Trawiński 1945-1957; Tadeusz Żuliński 1957-1967; Edmund Prost 1967-2008), but undoubtedly the greatest contribution to the development of the journal was made by the late Professor Edmund K. Prost, who held the position of editor-in-chief for over forty years until his death in 2008. With regards to its development and current standing the periodical is highly indebted to him.

Medycyna Weterynaryjna publishes various types of articles which are grouped in the following editorial categories: review articles, original studies, scientific and professional problems, the history of veterinary medicine, posthumous memoirs, as well as chronicles that briefly relate scientific advances and developments in the veterinary profession and medicine. The most important are the first two categories, which are published with short summaries in English. Moreover, from 2001 Medycyna Weterynaryjna, bearing in mind market demands, has also started publishing entire works in English, which grow in number yearly with each journal. Since 2008 the periodical has appeared in an electronic version. The following are available in this version: summaries of studies published from 1999 to 2005, full versions of all the studies published in the years 2006-2007 (in pdf files), and full versions of the English studies published in the current year (pdf). Only summaries of the remaining studies from the current year are available. In accordance with the principles accepted by the editors, the full versions of these texts will not be made available until next year.

All articles are evaluated twice by leading Polish scientists and professionals before they are considered for publication. For years now Medycyna Weterynaryjna has maintained a high standard thanks to this system. It is worth adding that review articles are actually succinct monographs dealing with specific scientific and professional problems that are based on the most recent international findings. Original works have a particular value, since they present research carried out in Polish and international scientific centers.

Medycyna Weterynaryjna not only publishes articles concerning veterinary medicine, but also about applied biology, i.e. medicine, animal science, as well as hygiene, food and feeding technology. The journal undoubtedly belongs to the most important periodicals dealing with veterinary medicine and applied biology in East Central and Eastern Europe. The value of the journal has been recognized by international information services and its published material has been cited in most professional publications. For a number of years Veterinary Medicine has been indexed by Thompson Scientific (formerly the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia), USA, where the journal was placed in its Master Journal List.