Dr. Smitherman earned a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University in 1974 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 before entering active duty in the United States Air Force. During his military service, he earned a Master of Preventative Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California - Davis in 1983. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Florida Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Association of Feline Practitioners and is a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine. Dr. Smitherman has a special interest in Feline Medicine.

Dr. Smitherman has been happily married since 1973. He and his family moved to the Panama City area in 1993, where he retired as a Colonel from his Air Force career and has been an Associate Veterinarian at Animal Care Center since 2000. He and his wife share their lives with their son, Adam, and their pets, a retired racing Greyhound, “Streeter”, a chihuahua, "Sassafras", and their cat “Mikki”.