UF large animal surgery resident receives national recognition

A large animal surgery resident and doctoral candidate at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine was recently honored by a national professional association for his achievements in the clinical, educational and scholarly arenas.

This month, Andrew Smith, D.V.M., received a Residents’ Award from the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians, an organization of veterinary clinicians engaged in teaching and research at the professional, graduate and postgraduate level. The award is given annually to two residents selected from all the veterinary residents in North America.

Smith completed his veterinary degree from North Carolina State University in 2009. He then completed consecutive internships in large animal surgery at North Carolina State University and at New England Equine Practice in Patterson, New York.

His research interests include equine diagnostic imaging, orthopedic surgery, upper airway surgery, lameness and podiatry.

In the UF veterinary college, Smith is the only current resident-in-training who is simultaneously pursuing a doctorate. A recipient of the university’s Graduate School Fellowship, his thesis work focuses on the use of a magnetic resonance imaging scoring system to map the progression of osteoarthritis following a traumatic joint injury. This work was part of a larger project funded by the National Institutes of Health that uses horses as the model to study osteoarthritis in both humans and horses.

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is supported through funding from UF Health and the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.