Dr. Ver Steeg grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa and graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High school in 1992. Dr. Ver Steeg attended The University of Iowa and majored in Biochemistry with a minor in Chemistry. He graduated cum laude in 1996 and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Dr. Ver Steeg then turned his attention to microbiology and worked as a researcher in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Iowa. The results of Dr. Ver Steeg's research were published in the scientific literature.

Dr. Ver Steeg matriculated into Northwestern University Medical School in 1997. He quickly became interested in surgery and co-founded the Loyal Davis Surgical Society, a surgery interest group for medical students. Dr. Ver Steeg was recruited as a researcher in Transplant Surgery during his first year of medical school. He was trained to perform heart transplants using a microscope in rats. Another project involved the use of genetically engineered pigs to save patients in liver failure when there is no human donor is available. Dr. Ver Steeg's results were again published in the scientific literature.