Learn about the individuals in these roles within Soft Tissue Surgery here.

Veterinary surgeons are board-certified specialists who have undergone extensive (a minimum of four years) additional training following the completion of their doctorate degree to specialize in performing surgery on companion animals. At the MSU Michigan State Veterinary Medical Center, our surgeons are responsible for overseeing the care of our patients and performing a wide variety of surgeries as well as training residents, interns, and veterinary medical and veterinary nursing students.

Surgery residents are veterinarians who have completed at least one year of advanced training in an internship and are undergoing an additional three years of advanced training to become board-certified surgeons in small animal surgery.

Surgery interns are veterinarians who have completed at least one year of advanced training in an internship and are undergoing an additional year of advanced training in preparation for applying through the competitive residency placement process.

Rotating interns are veterinarians who have obtained their doctorate and are undergoing advanced training in various aspects of veterinary medicine including, but not limited to, emergency and critical care medicine, internal medicine, soft tissue, and orthopedic surgery, anesthesia, radiology, as well as oncology, neurology, cardiology, ophthalmology, primary care, and dermatology.

Fourth-year students are in their final year of training to become veterinary medical doctors. They have already completed four years of an undergraduate degree as well as an additional three years of veterinary school. They are now doing their final year of veterinary school, their clinical year, prior to graduating with their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. Students spend three weeks during their clinical year with the Soft Tissue Surgery Service as one of the many clinical service rotations throughout the small and large animal Hospital.