Viktor Szatmári was born in Debrecen, Hungary on 3 May 1972. After finishing the secondary school (Tóth Árpád Gimnázium, Debrecen) in 1990, he studied veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Science in Budapest (September 1990 – December 1995).
He received his diploma on 1 December 1995 with summa cum laude. After graduation he completed an internship at the Small Animal Clinic of the Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Veterinary Science in Budapest (December 1995 – December 1996).
He started to work as a PhD-student at the same department from January 1997 on the topic of Doppler ultrasonography of abdominal blood vessels in dogs. Besides his research activities he actively participated in the routine ultrasonography, cardiology and internal medicine service of the clinic.
From November 1999 he continued his research at the Division of Diagnostic Imaging of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Utrecht University in the Netherlands focusing on Doppler ultrasonography of the portal vein in dogs.
In February 2003 he became a junior teacher and researcher of the same division and performed routine ultrasonographic examinations on small animals. In September 2003 he started a 3-year residency program in companion animal internal medicine and cardiology at the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University.
In April 2004 he defended his thesis with a title of Ultrasonography of portosystemic shunting in dogs; Doppler studies before, during and after surgery.