Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and then completed a 3 year residency program in Large Animal Medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She became a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1995. She received an NIH training grant and completed her PhD in 1999 in the Comparative Experimental Medicine program at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Sommardahl continued her research in polycystic kidney disease as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathobiology until she joined the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences in 2001 as a full time faculty member in Large Animal Medicine. Dr. Sommardahl was section head of the Equine Medicine Service from 2011 to 2020. She became Department Head of the Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department in October of 2021 after serving as Interim Department Head for one year.