Career Center

Michigan State University
College of Veterinary Medicine
Large Animal Surgeon

Position Specification

Position: Large Animal Surgeon
Company: Michigan State University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Reporting Relationship: Department Chair, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Website: www.cvm.msu.edu

Michigan State University
Michigan State University (MSU), the nation’s pioneer land-grant university, is one of the top research universities in the world. Home to nationally ranked and recognized academic departments, residential colleges, and service-learning programs, MSU is a diverse community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, scientists, alumni, and leaders.

MSU is a research-intensive university committed to intellectual leadership, excellence in fundamental and applied research, education, and service. Founded in 1855, MSU was one of the original beneficiaries of the Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act and continues to serve as a prototype for other institutions worldwide. MSU has since evolved into a world-class university with a comprehensive spectrum of programs that attract diverse and talented faculty, staff, and students. The long and distinguished tradition of public outreach at MSU complements its strength in research and teaching, and fosters positive intellectual, social, and technological development. MSU has been an elected member of the prestigious Association of American Universities since 1964 and is a member of the Big 10 Athletic Conference.

Excellence in undergraduate and graduate student education is a priority and hallmark of MSU. Each year, MSU enrolls approximately 40,000 undergraduates and 11,000 graduate and professional students. These students come from at least 130 countries, all 50 states and every county in Michigan. MSU boasts approximately 542,000 living alumni. More than 12,000 faculty and staff are employed at MSU, and its 17 degree-granting colleges offer more than 200 different programs of study. MSU is committed to international study and its study abroad programs offer 275 options in at least 60 countries on all continents. Given the extraordinary MSU multicultural environment which attracts students from all walks of life as well as from all over the world, the opportunity to interact with students from diverse backgrounds is exceptional. More than 1,400 faculty and staff are engaged in international research and teaching and the 25 internationally focused centres, institutes and offices across the University facilitate engagement and impact.

The University is committed to serving Michigan, the nation, and the world. Its distinguished history of innovative teaching, research and outreach has brought MSU worldwide recognition as a public university with global reach and impact. Notably, MSU has a longstanding record of achievement and commitment to diversity. The University offers an environment that promotes an appreciation of diversity among its faculty, students, staff, and programs.

An annual budget of more than $2 billion supports MSU activities and programs. As an international leader in scientific and engineering research and development, approximately $600 million annually in externally-sponsored research expenditures are part of the annual budget. MSU began a major program, Global Impact Initiative, in 2015 to advance research and scholarship. Over 90 new faculty have been hired in focus areas including: Computation, Advanced Engineering, Genomics, Plants/Food/Environment, Antibiotic Resistance, and Precision Medicine. With an emphasis on developing practical applications of new knowledge to address complex societal problems, MSU research is integrated with its graduate education mission and is characterized by cross-disciplinary collaborations. Current research activities extend across MSU, among campuses and institutions around the nation and the world, and involve a diversity of agencies, organizations, and industries.

The University is situated on 5,200 acres, much of it along the banks of the Red Cedar River in the city of East Lansing, with 2,100 acres in existing or planned development. The campus includes 538 buildings, including 95 academic buildings. The city of East Lansing has approximately 50,000 residents and is adjacent to Lansing, the state capital. The three-county metropolitan area has approximately 464,000 residents.

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE BACKGROUND
Veterinary science courses have been taught at MSU since the institution's founding in 1855. The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) was formally established as a four-year, degree-granting program in 1910.

Today, the college includes three clinical departments -- Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Large-Animal Clinical Sciences, and Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation; two affiliated biomedical science departments -- Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Pharmacology and Toxicology; two service units -- the Veterinary Medical Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; and several research centers.

Research at the MSU CVM includes interdisciplinary, innovative, and high-impact investigations that are central to the history, present, and future, and underpin our exceptional education and unsurpassed clinical care. The expansive CVM Endowed Research Funds support graduate student, young investigator and pilot projects within the MSU CVM. The College boasts 9 endowed research chairs in comparative orthopedics, feline health, canine health, farm animal health and well-being, antimicrobial resistance, equine, and small and large animal clinical sciences.

In addition to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program, the college offers certificate and bachelor's degree programs in veterinary nursing, and advanced graduate degrees (master's and doctor of philosophy) through the Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology (CMIB) program.

The CVM is fortunate to have an outstanding faculty, all of whom hold the doctor of veterinary medicine degree and/or the doctor of philosophy degree. Nearly all of the specialty boards recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association are represented on the faculty. Many of these faculty members are leaders in their fields, both nationally and internationally.

MSU has a long-standing commitment to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and multiculturalism. The CVM has attained national recognition for its leadership in programs for the encouragement of underrepresented groups at the preprofessional, professional, and advanced studies levels, as well as for increased diversity in its faculty, students, and staff.

Special opportunities for pre-veterinary and professional students to participate in international veterinary activities further expand appreciation of different cultures. Indeed, international experience and opportunities abound in the college for both faculty and students. Nearly 300 individuals associated with the college have been involved in activities in 36 countries. A special endowment provides funds to support student travel abroad.

The abundance and variety of animal agriculture and companion animals in Michigan provides the college with one of the largest clinical and diagnostic caseloads in the country. Educational and research opportunities are considerably enhanced by this large caseload.

The college also takes seriously its obligation to meet the needs of society in addition to clinical services and education. The college has expertise in public health, biomedical and comparative medical research, ecosystem and environmental management, and the multiple facets that compose our complex global food system. CVM also supports key animal health programs conducted by both the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The mission of the college is to be inclusive as we learn, discover, heal, and protect. We, as a College, aim to identify, attract, and retain talented students, faculty, and staff reflective of the diversity of the populations in our state, the nation, and the world. Our academic, scholarly, and service roles, considered separately and collectively, form the foundation of an inclusive culture that is committed to respecting, nurturing, and advancing all individuals.

We are committed to promoting the principles of equal opportunity and multiculturalism where all individuals are valued, respected, provided opportunity to flourish and open doors in their pursuit of excellence. We encourage and welcome our community to share ideas with us surrounding opportunities to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The College's vision is to be the destination for teaching, innovation, care, and service. Six goals, backed by specific strategies, guide our organization as we move forward. Read more at https://cvm.msu.edu/about/strategic-planning-2021-26/goals to learn about the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine’s goals, strategies, and progress.

Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (LCS)
The Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (LCS) is educating the next generation of veterinary professionals, conducting research that improves the lives of animals and humans, and providing the finest clinical services available.

Our diverse faculty focuses on areas ranging from dairy, food animal, and specialized equine services to intensive research and student training. They work closely with students pursuing DVM degrees, veterinarians in internship and residency programs, and MS and PhD students. Learning to better understand, diagnose, and treat disease takes place in some of the most advanced facilities and laboratories. Faculty and students work together to find new solutions and put them into practice for a better world.

LCS educational facilities include the Large Animal Clinic in the Veterinary Medical Center, where faculty members and students provide emergency care as well as diagnostics, medical and surgical treatment, and therapeutic services for horses, cattle and other ruminants, as well as other animals including camelids and pet pigs. It also coordinates the Summer Food Systems Fellowship Program - a unique partnership between the College and industry partners, which ensures the supply of well-trained veterinarians to work within the food animal industry. The McPhail Center houses a full sized arena with competition footing, forceplates, a farrier shop, an indoor lunging arena, and an overground endoscopy.

Our faculty members are innovative researchers, dedicated teachers, and gifted practitioners. Their combined accomplishments have made us one of the top-ranked veterinary schools in the country. Every day, faculty members advance knowledge in a broad range of specialties and create new knowledge that is rapidly put into practice in a clinical setting. Our students learn from some of the brightest, most creative minds in veterinary medicine.

We have three medicine and three surgery residents working closely with the faculty researchers and clinicians, and support staff help make sure everything runs smoothly in the lab and the clinic.

Research in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences is clustered around several cores of research excellence: preharvest food safety, inflammation and metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, and equine sports medicine and rehabilitation. The cores foster interdisciplinary collaboration, build on strengths of the college and university, and are conceptually broad to incorporate contributions from our diverse faculty.

The Opportunity
The Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, invites applications for a Tenure System or Health Programs Faculty Appointment System (HP) position in Large Animal Surgery. Tenure system appointments typically have 40% or more of assignable time devoted to research and scholarship, with another 40-50% devoted to clinical instruction, patient care services, and periodic emergency coverage. HP appointments are unique to Michigan State University Colleges of Human, Osteopathic, Veterinary Medicine, and Nursing and were created to enhance programs in clinical education, patient care services, and clinical research. HP faculty appointed in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences typically have 60% or more of their time devoted to clinical instruction and patient care services. In addition, HP faculty are expected to be active in research and other scholarly endeavors. Both appointment types are expected to contribute to preclinical teaching and the general administrative efforts of the Department and College. The HP position is a multi-year renewable appointment. We are looking to fill multiple positions, either appointment type is available at the Assistant, Associate or Professor rank depending on qualifications and experience.

Successful applicants will be interested in transformative work in large animal research, teaching and clinical applications that make a difference in the lives of animals, their owners, our students and society. The ideal candidate(s) will utilize the resources of MSU to become a world-recognized expert in their area and contribute to our goal of making MSU CVM have a global impact on the knowledge base for large animals in clinical service, teaching, and research. MSU welcomes candidates excited to explore new modalities of scholarship and apply them to teaching, research, and service. As a land grant mission, we serve the State of Michigan through discovery, teaching, and service and the ideal candidate(s) will embody the “Spartans Will” spirit.

The primary clinical responsibilities of this position are:

1. Sharing primary duties for elective surgical and sports medicine cases, as well as daytime surgical or orthopedic emergencies, including food and fiber animal species;
2. Providing up to 5 weeks of after-hours emergency surgery coverage;
3. Developing strong relationships with referring veterinarians;
4. Providing didactic, laboratory and clinical instruction to veterinary students and residents;
5. Participating in state and national outreach and continuing education and research activities.

The distribution of effort for research, preclinical teaching, outreach, and service appointment is subject to negotiation based on the candidate's interests and college needs.

The successful candidate(s) will join the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, one of five CVM departments. The Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences serves Michigan’s equine and food animal communities through didactic teaching and clinical service in the DVM program. A recent curriculum redesign embraces a competency-based systems approach to training veterinarians through developing clinical skills, clinical reasoning, and a case-based approach to learning. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to interact with pre-clinical and clinical students, helping them to bridge the gap between school and clinical practice. Departmental faculty also engage in extension and basic and translational research that range from biomedical research to computation methods and emphasize a One Health approach.

The College has two service units, the Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The clinical team consists of 3 ACVS, 4 ACVIM, and 2 ACT faculty. Three faculty members are double boarded in ACVECC. There is also a full complement of board-certified specialists in ACVR, ACVSMR, ACVAA, ACVO, and ACVIM-cardiology & neurology. The hospital caseload is approximately 75% equine but includes all other large animal species. Facilities include a fully equipped hospital with 24-hour certified nursing staff, advanced imaging, the Matilda Wilson Pegasus Critical Care and Isolation Facility and the McPhail Equine Performance Center. The position offers exciting opportunities to work in a collaborative environment using state of the art equipment, including CT, MRI, nuclear scintigraphy, ultrasound, digital radiography, and fluoroscopy.

Michigan State University is an R1 research-intensive university that is home to internationally renowned faculty with broad research interests. The College of Veterinary Medicine has a mentorship program for the development of junior faculty and resources to support researchers at all stages of their careers. Additional information on some of MSU’s research resources can be found at the CVM Research Resources web page (https://cvm.msu.edu/research) and the MSU Research Technology Support Facility (https://rtsf.natsci.msu.edu/).

Professional Experience/Qualifications

• Applicants must have a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent degree and be eligible for licensure to practice veterinary medicine in Michigan. The candidate must have excellent communication skills and the ability to work cooperatively within a team.
• Board certification or eligibility in the American College of Veterinary Surgeons is preferred but ECVS trained will be considered.
• A PhD or advanced degree in relevant field is desirable.

Apply
For more information and to apply, please email Jordan Williams jordan.williams@kornferry.com