Stacks Image 3272
Clare is a council member of the Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding, the neurology expert for the Feline Advisory Bureau Feline, an Honorary Friend of the Ann Conroy Trust (British Syringomyelia and Chiari Society)and Life Patron of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of the Rand South Africa. In 2011 she has been honoured by the veterinary profession, receiving BSAVA JA Wight (aka James Herriot)
Memorial Award for Animal Welfare for her work with CKCS society with respect to Syringomyelia.  

Career 
Clare graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1991 and following an internship at the University of Pennsylvania and general practice in Cambridgeshire, she completed a BSAVA/Petsavers Residency and then became Staff Clinician in Neurology at the Royal Veterinary College. She became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Neurology in 1996 and a RCVS Specialist in 1999.

In 2007 she was awarded a PhD from Utrecht University for her thesis on Chiari-like malformation & Syringomyelia - a painful disease occurring in some toy breed dogs. For 16 years she operated a neurology and neurosurgery referral service at the Stone Lion Veterinary Hospital in Wimbledon.

In September 2013 she joined Fitzpatrick Referrals and the University of Surrey where the ethos and the state of the art facilities allows her to take her clinical and research work to the next level. Her professional interests include neuropathic pain, inherited diseases, epilepsy and rehabilitation following spinal injury.
She treats many animals with painful and/or distressing inherited disease which motivates her research aiming to find a better way of diagnosing, treating and preventing these conditions.

In 2011 she was awarded the J. A. Wright (a.k.a. James Herriot) Memorial Award by The Blue Cross Animal Welfare Charity for her work with the Cavalier King Charles spaniel society with regard to syringomyelia. She has written over 50 scientific papers, contributed to several veterinary textbooks and has edited a medical textbook on syringomyelia
Stacks Image 508
Dr. Clare Rusbridge BVMS DipECVN PhD MRCVS
BVMS PhD DipECVN MRCVS RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Neurology

Now at Fitzpatrick referrals - for appointments contact 01483 423761
www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk
www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/iframe/
www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk

Syringomyelia, FOPS, Epilepsy, Spinal disease, Lafora’s disease
Please click on the link for further information (google scholar).

BVMS PhD DipECVN MRCVS RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Neurology
What do the qualifications mean? (+)
BVMS  - Batchelor of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery awarded from Glasgow Univeristy
 http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/vet/undergraduatestudy/prospectivestudents/

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)

A doctorate is usually based on at least 3 years graduate study and a dissertation. It is the highest degree awarded graduate study in this case awarded from Utrecht University.
http://www.uu.nl/en/informationfor/internationalstudents/programmes/phdprogrammes/Pages/default.aspx
Utrecht University was ranked the best university in the Netherlands and 7th best in Europe in the prestigious Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007.
Clare Rusbridge’s doctoral thesis on Chiari-like malformation and Syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel can be downloaded from:
http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2007-0320-201201/index.htm

DipECVN

A diplomate ECVN has successfully passed the examination of an European College of Veterinary Neurology. Diplomates have undergone extensive, well-defined training in small and large animal neurology and neurosurgery and passed an in-depth examination lasting several days. All diplomates are re-evaluated every five years.
http://www.khd.ugent.be/neurology/ecvn/ecvn.htm

MRCVS

Graduates in Veterinary Medicine & Surgery register as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS), entitling you to practise in the United Kingdom and any other member state of the European Union.
RCVS Specialist in Neurology

To be included on the List of Recognised Specialists, an individual must have achieved a postgraduate qualification at least at Diploma level, and must additionally satisfy the RCVS that they make an active contribution to their specialty, have national and international acclaim and publish widely in their field.
A Recognised Specialist must also be available for referral by other veterinary colleagues. Recognised Specialist status is time-bound, and the individual must reapply for recognition every five years to maintain their name on the List. This is the highest tier of qualification in the UK.

European Specialist in Neurology
European Specialist is someone who is either an active or founding diplomate of an EBVS-recognised college and who is practicing that speciality for more than 50% of their time
http://www.ebvs.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=38#FAQ6A