Core Surgical Skills ...

Course Authors

Daniel D. Smeak, DVM, Diplomate ACVS

Professor and Chief, Small Animal Surgery
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Colorado State University

Dr. Dan Smeak is the primary co-author of this course. He graduated with his DVM degree from Michigan State University in 1979. One year later, he completed a rotating Small Animal Internship at Colorado State University and then a three-year Surgical Residency at The Ohio State University. Immediately after his residency he accepted a professorship at The Ohio State University, and became a Diplomat in the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. After serving as Section Chief of Surgery in Ohio for his last 10 years at that institution, Dr. Smeak retired and joined the faculty at Colorado State University in 2007.

During his tenure at OSU, one of Dr. Smeak's primary academic interests was in the realm of surgical instructional methods. He has written numerous articles and has been an invited keynote presenter about new teaching technologies and animal-sparing surgical training methods in veterinary schools. For this effort he was awarded over 24 college-wide and national teaching awards including the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award, Merch AgVet Innovative Teaching Award, Clinical Teaching Excellence Award, US Fulbright Academy Teaching and Research Award, and an honorary Doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki. He has produced over 27 award winning teaching tutorials and he has developed 6 surgical simulators for teaching core surgical skills, some of which are used worldwide. As an accomplished and active soft tissue surgeon, Dr. Smeak has been an editor of several textbooks, and he has written over 30 chapters, and over 100 peer-reviewed articles.

Currently, Dr. Smeak is Professor and Chief of Surgery at Colorado State University. He remains active in his soft tissue surgery specialty practice at this institution, and he has continued to push for curricular changes, including using state-of-the-art teaching technologies to help improve surgical training of veterinary students.

Lawrence N. Hill, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Canine and Feline)

Professor - Clinical
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Hospital for Companion Animals
College of Veterinary Medicine
The Ohio State University

Dr. Lawrence Hill is a co-author of this course. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from The Ohio State University and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Canine and Feline). He was an associate veterinarian in small animal practice for three years, and the head veterinarian at a large, Central Ohio animal shelter for two years prior to joining the faculty at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Hill is currently an Associate Professor, Clinical Track, and Service Head of The Ohio State University Community Practice/Shelter Medicine and Surgery/Outreach Medicine Section. He has supervised over 1500 veterinary students one-on-one through approximately 30,000 surgical procedures, and has received numerous Clinical Teaching Excellence Awards, including the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award. His research interests include methods for teaching core surgical skills, and community partner/veterinary institution collaborations.

Texas A&M University Course Development Team

Jodi Korich, DVM

Director
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Dr. Korich is an instructional designer for this course. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University in 1997. Since 2002, she has worked in veterinary education and was the founding Director of the Partners in Animal Health Program at Cornell University from 2005-2010. In 2011, she became the Director of Educational Technologies at Texas A&M University, where she leads a team that focuses on developing innovative educational resources to support the veterinary profession.

Jordan Tayce, DVM, MA

Associate Director
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Dr. Tayce is an instructional designer for this course. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University in 2008 and practiced small animal medicine in Las Vegas. He then returned to school to earn a Masters of Arts in Higher & Professional Education from the Institute of Education in London, UK in 2011.

Scott Birch

Creative Director
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Scott Birch is a multimedia developer for this course. Scott has worked in multimedia production for over 20 years. From 2007-2010, Scott was the Creative Director for the Partners in Animal Health program at Cornell University. In 2011, Scott became the Creative Director for The Center for Educational Technologies at Texas A&M University, where he continues to research and develop creative solutions to address veterinary educational challenges.

Vince Chihak

Project Coordinator
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Vincent Chihak is a project coordinator for the Center for Educational Technologies, contributing expertise in video and audio production to a wide variety of educational projects. In his position, Vince works closely with faculty and instructional designers to help them translate their vision into reality. Vince holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and worked overseas in Trinidad and Australia as an oilfield engineer, prior to shifting his career to educational technologies. Vince joined the CET team in 2014 and draws upon his valuable skill set to bring organization and efficiency to the team’s production processes.

Tonya Miles

Assistant Director
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Tonya Miles is the content architect for this course, designing and implementing the course navigation and layout. Tonya has worked in the online learning field for over 10 years. From 2002-2010, she provided a variety of services (quality assurance testing, project management, content architecture) for eCornell at Cornell University. In 2012, Tonya became the Assistant Director for the The Center for Educational Technologies at Texas A&M University, where, in addition to her regular duties, she continues to test and provide architecture to courses.

Suzie Kabat

Visual Designer
The Center for Educational Technologies
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University

Suzie Kabat is the visual designer for the Center for Educational Technologies and supports our work by providing graphic design and illustration for instructional materials, user interfaces, presentations, promotional pieces and brand identity. She has 15 years of experience in the creative industry and has worked with The University of Chicago, and Cornell University’s Law School, Lab of Ornithology, College of Arts & Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine. She joined the Center in 2014.