I was born and raised in Chapel Hil (Go Heels!) and graduated from Carolina with a B.S. in Biology in 1997. During that time, I started my first job in the veterinary field as a technician assistant with Triangle Pet Emergency Treatment Service which became Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital. After graduating from Carolina, , I then attended NC State (Go Pack?) where I received a Master’s in Physiology in 2000. After a short break, I then attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine where I obtained my Veterinariae Medicinae Doctoris degree in 2005. Interesting fact: the veterinary school at Penn was started after doctors at Penn’s medical school recognized the importance of animal health in relation to human health . So that is why Penn awards a VMD (Veterinary MD) instead of a DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) that all the other veterinary schools in the United States award.

After graduating from vet school, I joined a large, small animal exclusive general practice in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield. In 2006, I moved to Boulder, Colorado and joined a small animal general practice and, after being an associate at the practice for a year, I was promoted to Medical Director and led the hospital for an additional 5 years. In 2012, I decided to follow my professional passion of surgery and completed a surgical internship at a private practice in Longmont, Colorado. After completion of the internship, I returned to general practice and over the course of next 3 years, was the Medical Director for 3 VCA hospitals. At the end of 2016, I changed career paths and became a veterinary recruiter for VCA, Ethos, and United Veterinary Care over the following 4 /12 years.

Eventually, I realized that my true calling was taking care of pets and their people so I decided to return to clinical practice. I joined a general practice in Boulder, Colorado in 2021 but then NC started pulling on my heartstrings and I knew it was time to come back home. My current professional interests include internal medicine, acupuncture, traditional Chinese herbs (I am currently in training to be able to offer these to patients), and lameness cases.

When I’m not at the hospital, I am practicing martial arts, enjoying time outside either biking, hiking, or gardening or relaxing inside with a good book, a good show to binge watch, or hanging with my two house rabbits.