The Anatomic Pathology Residency Program at the University of Minnesota is designed to provide broad exposure to basic and applied aspects of veterinary pathology and to prepare the trainee for a career in veterinary pathology and diagnostic medicine. Residents successfully completing the program are qualified to take the ACVP Board examination.
Pathology residents develop skills in gross pathology and histopathology by participating in a busy diagnostic laboratory service. These basic pathology skills are supplemented by training in clinical and comparative pathology, as well as population-based diagnostic medicine.
Residents also participate in pathology teaching for the veterinary student pathology laboratories and instruct senior veterinary students on necropsy rotations. Residents are expected to actively participate in weekly seminars in gross, microscopic, and clinical pathology; and other specialty pathology rounds.
Our faculty
A diverse faculty comprising of 9 board-certified anatomic pathologists, 5 clinical pathologists as well as 3 diagnosticians focusing on production animals support this program.
Caseload
The caseload includes a wide variety of domestic, wild and exotic animals, and birds submitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
Opportunities after completing the program
After completion of the residency program, qualified individuals may pursue focused research training leading to the PhD degree through the institution’s NIH-funded T32 post-doctoral training program in Comparative Medicine and Pathology.
Current residents
Fiona Arnold, DVM
Dr. Fiona Arnold grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and developed her affinity for all species of animals with a wide variety of pets as a child. She completed her bachelor's degree in animal sciences at The Ohio State University, and her doctorate at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2026. In her first year of vet school, her love of pathology was sparked during many Saturday mornings on the necropsy floor, broadening her understanding of the field. Throughout vet school, she continued to fuel her passion, as she completed an anatomic pathology fellowship at the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in the summer of 2024, presented posters at the ACVP annual meetings in 2024 and 2025 about an outbreak of avian polyomavirus in multiple psittacines and a unique case of epitheliotropic lymphoma in a large mouth bass, and published two manuscripts for JAVMA’s Pathology in Practice about avian polyomavirus in a caique and systemic amyloidosis and left auricular thrombosis in a Syrian hamster. Fiona joined the UMN VDL in June 2026, and she aspires to a career in toxicologic pathology to contribute to the regulation of safe and efficacious pharmaceuticals to benefit humans and animals alike.
Sidhartha Deshmukh, MS, DVM, PhD
Dr. Sidhartha Deshmukh (Sid) has completed his DVM (BVSc and AH) and MS (MVSc) in Veterinary Pathology from College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Palampur, India in 2002 and began to work as avian pathologists cum veterinarian in Venky’s India Limited, Chandigarh. He later moved to drug discovery research institute (Pharmaceutical industry) as Research scientist in 2005. He did his PhD from Institute of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2013. Because of his strong interest in academics, he joined Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University as Assistant Professor (Veterinary Pathology) in 2007. He was a Fulbright scholar at University of Minnesota from October 2021 to June 2022.
Sid joined University of Minnesota Veterinary Anatomic Pathology residency program in October 2024 and is excitingly looking forward to improve, develop and exchange of knowledge and hone up diagnostic skills in evaluating disease conditions at par with international standards besides controlling disease outbreaks in wildlife and in domestic animals at state and national level.
Caylie Hake, DVM
Dr. Caylie Hake graduated from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019 and began work as a primary and urgent care veterinarian in Pennsylvania. She moved to Minnesota in late 2020 and proceeded to explore an array of potential career pathways through relief and volunteer work, including small animal general practice, small animal emergency medicine, shelter medicine and surgery, and regulatory work with the West Virginia Racing Commission. She has always been interested in wildlife, and most recently completed an internship at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. Caylie joined the University of Minnesota anatomic pathology residency program in November 2022, and is looking forward to developing a greater understanding of disease processes in domestic and wild animals with goals of contributing to wildlife conservation and management research.
Joshua Hall, DVM
Dansong Seo, DVM
Dr. Dansong Seo graduated from Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in February 2020. While studying veterinary medicine, she discovered a passion for diagnostics and decided to focus on pathology. She earned her Master’s in Clinical Pathology at Seoul National University in 2022, developing a special interest in cytology and microscopic diagnostics. After gaining experience in clinical pathology, she wanted to further her training in histopathology and gross pathology to get a complete understanding of diagnostics and animal diseases. In July 2024, Dansong joined the University of Minnesota's Anatomic Pathology Residency Program and is excited to dive into this new chapter in pathology.
