The Surgery Service at Michigan State University is headed by board-certified surgeons and provides the most advanced and current surgical therapies available. Our facility is equipped for thorough evaluations, high-definition diagnostics, and minimally invasive techniques to ensure precise and effective treatments.
Working alongside all other services within the Veterinary Medical Center, we provide a wide range of modalities for diagnosis and treatment. The Anesthesia Service, which is headed by board-certified veterinary anesthesiologists, deliver expert care to prevent complications with general anesthesia and post-surgery analgesia, which improves the outcomes of our patients.
Whether your animal is an elite athlete or a beloved companion, we offer customized surgical solutions to meet their unique needs. We are the only veterinary hospital in the state to offer colic surgery.
Team
Assistant Professor
Dr. Stefanie Hansen earned her DVM from the University of Copenhagen. She completed internships at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital and Donnington Grove Equine Hospital. She later completed a residency in large animal surgery at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she also earned a master's degree in veterinary clinical sciences.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Adrienne Rhodes is a Michigan native who was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula. After graduating from veterinary school at Michigan State University in 2018, Dr. Rhodes headed out West and completed a private practice internship at Countryside Large Animal Veterinary Services, a mixed large animal practice in Greeley, CO. It was at this point in her career that she committed to the path of becoming a large animal surgeon. She returned to academia and completed two more internships at the University of Illinois including an equine surgery internship and a rotating equine medicine and surgery internship. She remained at the University of Illinois and completed an equine surgery residency. During her time at Illinois, Dr. Rhodes was involved in research that she presented at IVECCS in 2022 and was later on published, as well as graduating with a Master of Science degree in May 2024.
Professor
Dr. Frank Nickels earned his DVM and MS degrees from Washington State University in 1969 and 1974, respectively. While working on his master’s degree, he became one of the first people in the country to do arthroscopy on horses. There were only a handful of people doing work on arthroscopy at that time, and most of them were in human medicine. He had an internship at WSU and then stayed on as an instructor and worked his way up to associate professor with tenure. He was certified as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1980 and came to MSU in 1981, where he has been ever since. He is now a full professor.
He has wide clinical interests, including orthopedic, upper airway, and urogenital surgery, and is especially interested in equine podiatry. He runs a laminitis rehabilitation program at the MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital on Fridays and will probably open a podiatry clinic there soon. In 2007, Dr. Nickels was inducted into the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame at the International Hoof Care Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Associate Professor Health Programs
Dr. Ashley VanderBroek joined the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences in 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Large Animal Surgery. She obtained both her bachelor’s and veterinary degree from Michigan State University. Following a large animal rotating internship at the University of Georgia, she completed a surgical residency at New Bolton Center, the University of Pennsylvania’s large animal hospital. After her residency, she became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (Large Animal) and remained at New Bolton Center as a Lecturer in Large Animal Surgery until coming back to Michigan State University.