Research/Areas of Interest
Clinical veterinary soft tissue surgery
Minimally invasive surgery
Cardia, thoracic, gastrointestinal, and reconstructive surgery
Gastric dilatation-volvulous syndrome
Ischemia tolerance: metabolism
Education
- BS, University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
Biography
Dr. Raymond Kudej is a board-certified small animal surgeon and instructor at the Cummings School, with special interests in nasal, reconstructive, thoracic and gastrointestinal surgery.
As a child growing up on a farm in north central Iowa, Dr. Kudej (pronounced KOO-gee) was always around animals and developed an interest in veterinary medicine at a very young age. He pursued a veterinary degree, PhD and surgical residency at Iowa State University before undertaking post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, where he met his wife. He was an assistant professor at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, prior to coming to Tufts in 2000.
In addition to his clinical and teaching duties, Dr. Kudej is also a cardiovascular researcher with special interests in ischemia tolerance and associated metabolic mechanisms. Prior to becoming an American Heart Association fellow in 2001, he was honored with the prestigious association's Young (1998) and New Investigator (1999) Awards. He was given the Tufts Pfizer Research Award by the Cummings School in 2005, and was the school's invited speaker at the V'07 Graduation and V'08 White Coat Ceremonies.
Dr. Kudej teaches small animal surgery to second and third year students and helps to oversee their experience in the spay lab. He also serves as a facilitator for the Problem Based Learning course and directs the Standardized Client Interview program, which teaches client communication and history-taking skills, and directs the surgery residency program at the Cummings School. What I like most about teaching is interacting with the students. They are all very impressive individuals, he says. I enjoy teaching in the clinics the most, where the students are kind of putting everything together and getting a chance to perform. I enjoy meeting the clients and watching the students develop their skills and confidence.
One of Dr. Kudej's most memorable cases was a four-year-old golden retriever who was having difficulty breathing because of a large benign tumor in his voice box. After the surgery needed to remove the tumor, Dr. Kudej says,What I remember the most was that he was eating the next day, and the little dance and tail wag he did when the owner came to visit.
Dr. Kudej lives with his wife, Amy (a biomedical engineer and scientist at Genzyme) and their two young girls (Ellie and Emma) in nearby Westborough, MA. The family has a pet dachshund named Borghese. Dr. Kudej enjoys studying American history, restoring his 1886 Victorian home and is a member of the Westborough Historical Society. He also loves spending time with his family and friends, playing with his daughters and helping them to grow.
As a child growing up on a farm in north central Iowa, Dr. Kudej (pronounced KOO-gee) was always around animals and developed an interest in veterinary medicine at a very young age. He pursued a veterinary degree, PhD and surgical residency at Iowa State University before undertaking post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, where he met his wife. He was an assistant professor at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, prior to coming to Tufts in 2000.
In addition to his clinical and teaching duties, Dr. Kudej is also a cardiovascular researcher with special interests in ischemia tolerance and associated metabolic mechanisms. Prior to becoming an American Heart Association fellow in 2001, he was honored with the prestigious association's Young (1998) and New Investigator (1999) Awards. He was given the Tufts Pfizer Research Award by the Cummings School in 2005, and was the school's invited speaker at the V'07 Graduation and V'08 White Coat Ceremonies.
Dr. Kudej teaches small animal surgery to second and third year students and helps to oversee their experience in the spay lab. He also serves as a facilitator for the Problem Based Learning course and directs the Standardized Client Interview program, which teaches client communication and history-taking skills, and directs the surgery residency program at the Cummings School. What I like most about teaching is interacting with the students. They are all very impressive individuals, he says. I enjoy teaching in the clinics the most, where the students are kind of putting everything together and getting a chance to perform. I enjoy meeting the clients and watching the students develop their skills and confidence.
One of Dr. Kudej's most memorable cases was a four-year-old golden retriever who was having difficulty breathing because of a large benign tumor in his voice box. After the surgery needed to remove the tumor, Dr. Kudej says,What I remember the most was that he was eating the next day, and the little dance and tail wag he did when the owner came to visit.
Dr. Kudej lives with his wife, Amy (a biomedical engineer and scientist at Genzyme) and their two young girls (Ellie and Emma) in nearby Westborough, MA. The family has a pet dachshund named Borghese. Dr. Kudej enjoys studying American history, restoring his 1886 Victorian home and is a member of the Westborough Historical Society. He also loves spending time with his family and friends, playing with his daughters and helping them to grow.