Assistant Teaching Professor of Small Animal Surgery
University of Missouri
Jill K. Luther, DVM, MS, DACVS-SA is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Small Animal Surgery at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Luther is a graduate of Southwest Missouri State University who received her DVM from the University of Missouri. She completed a rotating small animal internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York and returned to MU as the Robert B. Gordon Research Fellow at the Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory for one year. She completed her surgical residency and MS in Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the University of Missouri in 2010. From there she performed orthopedic, soft-tissue and neurosurgery in private practice in St. Louis for four years, before returning to MU to specialize in soft tissue surgery in 2014.
Dr. Luther’s primary clinical interests include minimally invasive surgery and surgery of the urinary tract. Her greatest strength in teaching lies in the applied, practical application of surgery. Her experience in private practice and academia lends well to marrying gold standard practices with real world application.
Dr. Luther’s non-clinical interests have evolved into helping others recognize and combat compassion fatigue and stay committed to veterinary medicine through a course she co-coordinated called the Healer’s Art. Additionally, she has coordinated and transformed the orientation process into an experiential platform taking the students from the classroom to the clinics. She is an ambassador for female specialists refusing to accept the status quo.
Dr. Luther has an amazing family that includes her husband, Wally, a teacher and builder, and kids Walter, 10, Millie, 8, and Oliver, 4. Together they enjoy fixer-upper homes, traveling, and a controlled chaotic life including four cats and a Mini Aussie who herds everyone.