The Vet Blast Podcast The Vet Blast Podcast

Jill Clark, DVM, spent 17 years as an Assistant Director on feature films, commercials, and documentaries before changing direction and becoming a veterinarian in 1996.  She practiced in a multi-doctor group of small animal practices known for creating an exceptional client experience as an associate and then as Medical Director before joining a group of entrepreneurial veterinarians who grew their hospital group from 8 to 80 hospitals.  She was vice president of Operations for this group before joining VCA, managing 22 general and specialty practices with a continued focus on client experience as a competitive advantage.  In 2009, she joined VCA’s Executive Team and was responsible for VCA’s doctor recruiting team as well as creating VCA’s corporate university, WOOF-U, which served over 24,000 veterinary team members.  In 2016, Clark founded IGNITE Veterinary Solutions, a modern learning company focused on bringing high-end learning experiences to all veterinary teams across the globe.  She has a special passion for Client Service teams and elevating their role to its fullest in our profession. She is one of the founders and President of the newly formed, North American Association of Veterinary Receptionists.

Sarah Machell, DVM,  is a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College and previously owned and operated a Small Animal Practice outside of Toronto, Canada for 18 years.  Since transitioning her practice in 2018 she has worked in a variety of industry spaces, with a special interest in technology and virtual care. Machell is passionate about maximizing the capacity of veterinary practices to engage with and effectively leverage technologies to improve practice efficiencies, patient outcomes and professional satisfaction.  One of Sarah's current roles is the Medical Director for PetPath, a digital tool that provides a critical bridge between inpatient and outpatient care.

Alex Ehrich, co-founder of PetPath and Liberty University graduate, is passionate about transforming lives and bringing innovative ideas to life.  Ehrich has spent the past four years in the tech space, bringing products to market that enhance organizational effectiveness and improve user experiences.  In 2022, Ehrich teamed up with a veterinary neurologist and several business partners to launch PetPath. This digital care companion guides pet owners through their pet's most stressful moments, while freeing up veterinary care teams to focus on their core passion: providing exceptional animal care.

Alex Sigmund, DVM, DACVO, “The Vet Eye Guy” on Instagram, and founder of Insight Veterinary Eye Care, LLC that provides continuing education and teleconsultation services. He enjoys combining his passion for ophthalmology by engaging owners and veterinarians via social media, continuing education events, and one-on-ones. Sigmund wants every veterinarian to be comfortable with the basics of ophthalmology to improve patient care and client understanding. He has plans to start his own private practice in the near future that will focus on the client/patient experience in addition to high quality medicine. 

Sigmund enjoys working with exotic animals at local zoos and aquariums to ensure health and comfort for animals ranging from puffins to elephants. He completed veterinary school at the University of Georgia and a residency in comparative veterinary ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee. His publications have ranged from feline stem cell therapy to cataract surgery in raptors. Sigmund has a wonderful partner, an “old lady dog” named Asima, and a fluffy Ragdoll cat named King Louie that help occupy his time outside of the clinic.

After an earlier career as a carpenter and builder, Jon Geller, DVM, DABVP emeritusr graduated from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995.. After graduating, he practiced as a house call veterinarian for several years, and then embarked on a 20 year career as an emergency clinician in Colorado. During that time, Geller and his partners started up 4 emergency clinics. He became Board Certified as Veterinary Practitioner in Canine and Feline Medicine in 2010.

After seeing a homeless man and his pit bull on a bridge in Nashville in 2015, he founded The Street Dog Coalition, a non-profit charity, which provides free medical care, and other related services, to pets of owners at risk of, or experiencing homelessness in over 50 US cities.

In March of 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Street Dog Coalition went international, and Geller worked with several Romanian veterinarians to set up a vet clinic in a blue tent at the Romania-Ukraine border, where teams of veterinarians, vet students and technicians, known as the ‘Blue Vet Group’, have been providing free veterinary care to pets of Ukraine refugees. Since setting up the tent clinic, over 800 pets have been cared for and provided European Union pet passports to allow their owners to continue their travels westward. Currently, The Street Dog Coalition is partnering with other non-profits to bring the first mobile veterinary clinic into Ukraine to provide care for injured pets, as well as providing preventive care and sterilization services, in a long-term project with a goal of caring for 10,000 pets and horses.

Geller was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association for 2019. In the spirit of unbridled learning, he is currently enrolled as an MPH candidate at the University of Minnesota. He received the ASPCA Henry Bergh Humane Award for 2022, and also is an Instructor in the Colorado School of Public Health teaching a class on ‘Homelessness in America.’

Josh Sanabria, DVM, is proudly from Puerto Rico and he came to the continental United States in 2008 to pursue his lifelong goal of becoming a veterinarian. In 2012, he graduated from the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine. After completing his degree, Sanabria moved to Las Vegas to practice general and emergency veterinary medicine. In 2016, he moved to San Diego, where he joined the corporate veterinary medicine field, allowing him to transfer to Dallas, Texas. In 2019, he pursued his vision of practicing boutique veterinary medicine and he opened his very own office called Isla Veterinary Boutique Hospital in Addison, TX. In less than 5 years, Isla Vet has earned 9 awards for Best Veterinarian in Dallas. He is also a regular columnist for Dallas Voice, the most important LGBT magazine in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and he has also joined different TV networks for veterinary medicine related interviews, including Univision, Telemundo, NBC, and Fox News. Sanabria was also featured in a national TV commercial for Bank of America, where he shared part of his journey, from his humble beginnings to owning his veterinary hospital. Sanabria is openly gay and a proud advocate for the LGBTIA+ and Latinx communities.

Dr. DJ Haeussler grew up in the Cincinnati area. He finished his undergraduate work at The Ohio State University and then received his doctorate in 2006. He then went to New Jersey where he finished two internships at Garden State Veterinary Specialists and then returned to his alma mater, The Ohio State University to complete his residency. While at Ohio State University for his residency, he completed a Master of Science degree and earned the top award for professional student research at Ohio State as well as the top resident award for professional research at the annual American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) in 2010. Dr. DJ Haeussler has been published in Veterinary Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Clinician's Brief, and others. Dr. Haeussler has also published a photographic atlas to help better help veterinarians and veterinary technicians identify ophthalmic disease in dogs and is entitled Recognition of Canine Ocular Disease: A Photo Atlas, Volume 1. Dr. Haeussler is a board certified diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO). Dr. Haeussler has also served on the ACVO Public Relations committee as the committee chair, president of the Cincinnati Veterinary Medical Association, and is a member of the Cincinnati Veterinary Medical Association Board of Trustees.


Dr. Haeussler’s interests are providing exceptional ophthalmic care to prolong vision and comfort for your pet. He is very interested in cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation as well as various surgical methods of corneal repair. 

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Amy Thomson, DVM, DAVDC, often known as “toothy”, is passionate about teeth!
However, it was not always this way – she started her career in small animal practice with very minimal dentistry knowledge. She was fortunate to have a great mentor in her first job where she learned a lot and her desire to learn more grew. Once she attended her first Veterinary Dental Forum in 2013, she KNEW dentistry was her passion.

Throughout her years in general practice, she took every opportunity to expand her knowledge and along the way she affectionate became known as “Toothy Thomson”.
With time and support from her family, friends, collogues and a big ‘shove’ form her mentor she applied for a dentistry and oral surgery residency and was overjoyed when she matched at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

During her residency her passion grew not only for dentistry, but also for teaching. And because life is always full of surprises Thomson found herself at a crossroad in 2020 in the early stages of the pandemic – so she started her own mobile dentistry practice! 

In addition to with working alongside small animal general practice veterinary teams, she also became very active online sharing her knowledge. It has always been and continues to be very important to Thomson that she share as much as she can given it took hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to obtain the knowledge she did while in general practice. Knowledge she wants to see all veterinary teams have!