Faculty of Surgery
Programme descriptions
Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/respiratory tracts), and neurosurgery. Advanced surgical procedures such as joint replacement (total hip, knee and elbow replacement), fracture repair, stabilization of cranial cruciate ligament deficiency, oncologic (cancer) surgery, herniated disc treatment, complicated gastrointestinal or urogenital procedures, kidney transplant, skin grafts, complicated wound management, and minimally invasive procedures (arthroscopy, laparoscopy, thoracoscopy) are performed by veterinary surgeons (as registered in their jurisdiction).
Specialisation
The Surgery Faculty of the College of Veterinary Surgeons, Nigeria (CVSN) commenced its activities with the establishment of the College over a decade ago. At inception, the College had only one Study Centre hosted at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. It was headed by Late Prof. J. B. Adeyanju while Prof. A. Z. Hassan served as the Supervisor. The Faculty of Veterinary Surgery has the following Specialisations/options Viz.:
- Theriogenology
- Small Animal Surgery
- Large Animal Surgery
- Anaesthesia
- Diagnostic Imaging
Career opportunities
Fellows wishing to become board certified must undergo a one-year clinical internship program followed by three years of intensive training in a residency program under direct supervision of board certified veterinary surgeons, including performance of a large number of surgical procedures in such categories as abdominal surgery, surgical treatment of angular limb deformities, arthroscopic surgery, surgery of the foot, fracture fixation, ophthalmic surgery, urogenital surgery, and upper respiratory surgery, etc. Once the minimum requirements of training are met, residents are required to pass a rigorous examination before being admitted as members of FCVSNS.