MEET OUR VETERINARY ASSISTANTS

ANN CARLSON

I have been working at Kingsbrook Animal Hospital since it’s opening in March of 1999. I began working part-time in a veterinary hospital as a means of income during my college years and I found I enjoyed working with animals much more than the career I was pursuing. Although I did complete my education in radiology technology, I began working full-time for a veterinary clinic as soon as I graduated.

I have now been in the veterinary field for more than 30 years. In addition to my husband and children, I am also a mom to my cavalier king charles spaniel, Quincy. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, hiking with Quinn, traveling with friends, and spending time with my husband Barry and children Brian and Olivia.

KAYLA REARDON

I studied Social Psychology and Biology at Park University in Parkville, Missouri where I earned my Bachelor’s degree. All my life I have wanted to help others feel better, people and animals alike, if they were in pain I wanted to take care of them. I have always been passionate about the health and well being of others and had focused my career primarily around humans, until now. Being a veterinary assistant, I get the best of both worlds getting to work with both people and animals, and helping to care for those in need.

I started working at Kingsbrook Animal Hospital in May 2017. I am so lucky to work with such a smart, dedicated and passionate group of individuals. I chose to work at KAH because it is such an enjoyable and positive atmosphere. I love how the doctors and staff at KAH are so eager to teach, mentor, and support the growth and development of their employees. I enjoy working with such compassionate people who make it a purpose every day to provide the best quality of care to our furry companions.

In my free time, I love walking my dog Bruce and teaching him new tricks, playing music, and spending time with my wonderful family.

EMMA CONLON

From an early age, I can always remember loving animals of all sizes, particularly large dogs. I have very happy memories of when I grew up in a home that was right next door to the home of a large animal veterinarian. I thought his job was incredible, even at a young age. He’d let me name his horses and play with his dogs when I wasn’t allowed to have any!

I’ve always known that I wanted to do something with my life that had a noble purpose. However, I didn’t always know that I wanted to work in veterinary medicine. Quite honestly, I woke up one day and decided that noble purpose was to work towards becoming a veterinary technician. Which is what has led me to where I am today. I am currently in my fourth year as a veterinary technician student at San Juan college’s online veterinary technician program. I joined the Kingsbrook family in November of 2018. It’s so gratifying to work at a practice with such quality of medicine for animals, which is something that you don’t get to see every day. Working at a practice that continually strives to learn and become educated on various topics of medicine is more rewarding than I ever thought it could be. Getting to this point in my life has felt like a long and winding road, but I’m so grateful and appreciative of my journey.

I currently live in Hagerstown with my fiancée Nick and our senior Labrador retriever, Molly. In my spare time, I enjoy camping, hiking, reading and spending time with Molly, Nick, and my treasured family and friends.

VICA COMBS

I have had a passion for helping people and animals since a young age. I grew up with a household full of pets, there is not a time I remember not having a furry friend. As I started growing up, I acknowledged my passion for animals, but thought it would be too hard to see a suffering animal come through the doors. I switched my pathway to focus more on helping humans and got my Bachelor of Art in Criminology with a Psychology minor at Slippery Rock University. It was during this time in college one of my cats was diagnosed with renal disease and needed to be given subcutaneous fluids every single day. This was my first experience of having a sick animal that needed more than a pill to be treated. It was then I realized that I could handle the pressures of seeing a sick/injured animal. My outlook changed from being scared to realizing that I get to be a part of making these pets and their owners feel better.

I joined the Kingsbrook team because of their compassion and amazing atmosphere. This place is not just a place of work, it is like a mini family. Everyone is willing to lend a extra hand not only to the clients and pets but to the rest of the team.

ILANA RIOS SALOMON

I’ve always felt like I thrived when I’m around animals no matter what I’m doing. Even though my love for animals has always been very present in my life, I wasn’t always sure that I wanted a pursue a career with them. On my last year of college, I decided to make a documentary of a wild life rehabilitation center in Bolivia. This project would allow me to combine my two passions: film and animals. Fast forward 4 months later, I ended up with only half hour of footage and 20 monkeys under my care. I accepted the obvious and decided that working with animals is what I truly wanted to do. I first started working as vet assistant in an island in Maine.  From then on I knew that veterinary medicine was the right career for me. I’m hoping to attend vet school soon, and hopefully work in the jungle in the future – at least that’s the dream! In the meantime, I spend most of my days alongside my pup Simba – a feisty chihuahua – and going on hikes. Working at Kingsbrook has been such an amazing experience. Not only do I get to work and learn from the best, but also I get to meet all of your pups and kittens! I feel truly fortunate to work with such compassionate, smart, and knowledgeable people.