The Department of Clinical Studies, Philadelphia plays a vital role in the School of Veterinary Medicine's three-part mission to educate veterinarians and the public about animal health, provide service to the public by treating sick pets and other valuable small animals, and develop new approaches through research to improve companion animal health.

Teaching: Fourth-year students rotate through busy clinics staffed by Board-certified specialists in internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, special species, critical care, anesthesia, dentistry, radiology, neurology, cardiology, and oncology. The Department also trains graduate veterinarians to become specialists and provides continuing education to veterinarians and the public through programs, seminars, and publications.

Service: The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital is staffed by Department Faculty and staff, who see more than 27,000 patient visits each year, including more than 10,000 through the Emergency Service. The Ryan Hospital is an established world leader in programs such as oncology, critical care, internal medicine, and surgery. Many veterinary specialties now practiced internationally were initiated by Faculty in the Department. Innovative new programs for treating companion animal patients at the Hospital include kidney transplant, a new special-species program, animal behavior, and nutrition. In addition, the Hospital has the world's only animal bloodmobile. The interdisciplinary Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society, which studies the social, behavioral, and cultural interactions between animals and humans, is also based in the Department.

Research: Faculty, students, and staff collaborate with other Faculty at the University and around the world to develop new techniques for diagnosing and treating companion animal patients. By conducting research using the most sophisticated new approaches, they fundamentally advance the knowledge of animal (and human) health and diseases. Major programs in the Department are devoted to understanding complex genetic diseases, damage caused by high and low oxygen, genetic and developmental bases for orthopedic diseases, gene therapy for inherited neurological and immune system diseases, and the basis for hematological disorders.