SMDC's team

Dr. Erik Bergman graduated in 1996 from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ghent, Belgium. Immediately after graduation, he worked in the Equine Reproduction and Obstetrics Department in Ghent under the supervision of Prof. A. de Kruif. After a season working as an equine gynecologist in Australia, he continued his career in Lienden, the Netherlands. In 2000, Erik was one of the founders of Lingehoeve Diergeneeskunde, a mixed referral clinic. In 2003, he became a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR, European Specialist in Equine Reproduction and Obstetrics). Over the years, his interest shifted toward equine orthopedics. He pioneered equine scintigraphy in the Netherlands and, alongside his clinical work, became responsible for advanced diagnostic imaging. In 2006, he developed the contrast CT technique for the equine stifle. In 2008, Erik became one of the first certified members of ISELP (The International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology). In 2010, Dr. Bergman became an Associate Member of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging (LA-ECVDI, Large Animal Imaging). With this title, he supervises residents (specialists in training) in diagnostic imaging. Erik has been responsible for diagnostics and orthopedic imaging of sport horses at several major equestrian events, including the World Equestrian Games in Caen (2014), the European Championships (2015), and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016), Tokyo (2021), and Paris (2024).
In 2015, Dr. Bergman co-founded the Sporthorse Medical Diagnostic Centre (SMDC) together with Dr. Van Toor. SMDC is a center of excellence for sport horses, where a multidisciplinary team—comprising specialized equine veterinarians in orthopedics, internal medicine, and dentistry, as well as physiotherapists and farriers—examines and treats sport horses on a daily basis.
Since 2021, Erik has served as Vice President of ISELP and is responsible for delivering various ISELP modules worldwide. In 2022, he became a Diplomate of the ECVSMR (European College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation) and completed his MBA program at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
SMDC joined the Altano Group in 2019, where Erik has been actively involved in building the group into a global equine veterinary organization.