UF Veterinary College Appoints Two Associate Deans
By Sarah Carey
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thanks to its fast-growing clinical operations, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has appointed two associate deans for clinical services to oversee operations at the UF Veterinary Hospitals.
Michael Mison, D.V.M., will become associate dean for clinical services for small animal operations, responsible for the UF Small Animal Hospital in Gainesville, UF Pet Emergency Treatment Services in Ocala and the veterinary hospitals’ pharmacy.
Chris Sanchez, D.V.M., Ph.D., who has led the UF Veterinary Hospitals as interim associate dean for clinical services since December 2019, will become associate dean for clinical services for large animal operations, and will be responsible for the UF Large Animal Hospital in Gainesville, the UF Veterinary Hospital at World Equestrian Center in Ocala and the UF Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories.
“Although the division of responsibilities will involve collaboration across certain services, the core responsibilities associated with each position will remain patient-centric care, with student education, clinical research, operational efficiency, well-being of staff and clinicians and financial sustainability all being integrated into this central philosophy associated with our overall clinical mission,” said the college’s dean, Dana Zimmel, D.V.M.
Mison works as a veterinary surgeon at MedVet in Salt Lake City, where he has been a part of the medical team since 2021. Previously, he held numerous faculty, hospital and administrative appointments at veterinary colleges throughout the United States.
A 1998 alumnus of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, Mison completed a residency in small animal surgery from Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002 and became board-certified in small animal surgery. He subsequently held faculty appointments in small animal surgery at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine from 2002 to 2004 in soft tissue surgery, as well as numerous temporary faculty appointments between 2004-2015 at the University of California/Davis, Michigan State University, Oregon State University, the University of Illinois, Oklahoma State University and Virginia-Maryland colleges of veterinary medicine. He worked at Seattle Veterinary Specialists from 2007 to 2015 as a founding owner and managing partner.
In 2015, Mison joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, where he remained until 2021, serving as a professor of small animal clinical surgery and hospital director/chief medical officer and as the on-call surgeon for the Philadelphia Zoo. He also served as section chief of surgery, anesthesia and dentistry/oral surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school from 2016 to 2017.
A 1995 graduate of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, Sanchez completed a residency in large animal medicine at UF in 1999. She subsequently completed her Ph.D. at UF in 2003, and joined the faculty that same year in large animal internal medicine, working her way up to the rank of full professor. Before accepting the position of interim associate dean for clinical services, she served as chief medical officer for the UF Large Animal Hospital, holding that position since January 2019. She was interim chair of the department of large animal clinical sciences from January 2018 through November 2018.
A board-certified large animal medicine specialist, Sanchez’s specific interests include gastrointestinal diseases and neonatology. She heads the UF Hofmann Equine Neonatology Intensive Care Unit and her research in the area of gastric ulcerations in foals has changed the therapeutic approach in clinical care.
The new organizational structure will go into effect June 20.
