Esteban Gonzalez pictured right with Henry L’EplattenierEssex veterinary referral practice VRCC has appointed an international specialist in small animal surgery to its growing team.

Esteban Gonzalez joins the practice in Southfields, Laindon, from Ars Veterinaria in Barcelona, one of the leading veterinary hospitals in Spain.

Esteban (pictured right with VRCC Clinical Director, Henry L’Eplattenier) graduated at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 2002. After working as a veterinary emergency in Paris for a year, he did an 18-month rotating internship of at the UAB. He then worked for three years in a veterinary hospital as a soft tissue and emergency surgeon.

In January 2009, he began a three-year residency in small animal surgery in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, under the supervision of Dr Jean-Francois Bardet, one of France’s leading veterinary surgeons. 

As part of his training, he made several visits to the US with graduates of American surgery, as well as specialists in oncology, anaesthesia and emergency medicine.

During his residency he published several articles and gave presentations at national and international conferences.

Esteban graduated as a European specialist in surgery and a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS) in February 2014. He then worked as a specialist surgeon in the UK for two years until last year when he joined Ars Veterinaria.

VRCC says his is the first of a number of planned appointments which will result in two veterinary surgeons appointed to each of the practice’s eight specialities.

The business is also undergoing a rebranding and rebuilding operation that will see the practice renamed as Southfields. 

Operations manager Daniel Hogan said: "The recruitment plan will ensure we continue to offer state-of-the-art veterinary medicine across the board — in oncology, soft tissue surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine, feline medicine, anaesthesia, diagnostic imaging, neurology and cardiology."

Clinical director at VRCC Henry L’Eplattenier said: "Esteban is a hugely experienced and well-respected specialist, who we are delighted has chosen to join the team here.

"Having his kind of expertise adds to our already considerable skill-sets and is part of a major drive to attract some of the best people in the industry to VRCC."

For more information, visit www.vrcc.co.uk

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