OUR TEAM

THE VETERINARIANS

	DOUG CALLAGHAN Doug graduated from Brisbane University with a BVSc* in 1967. He has extensive experience in large animals and equine. He is now a Director of Veterinary Associates Hastings and concentrates most of his time on management of the business, retail sales and animal health advice.
	MICHAEL NEWALL Mike graduated from Massey University in 1997 with a BVSc*, and started his working career with Veterinary Associates. He had a short break whilst travelling overseas and then returned back to Veterinary Associates as a full time large animal veterinarian. He is now a director of Veterinary Associates Hastings. He enjoys both horses and production animal work. Outside of work, his interests include fishing and golf.
	SHARON MARSHALL Born in Sydney, Australia, Sharon moved to NZ in the 1980’s and studied at Massey University. She has gained a BSc (biochemistry and physiology) and BVSc* (with Distinction, Massey Scholar). She worked for five years at The Edendale Veterinary Club working on small and large animals, but elected to concentrate on small animals after moving to Hastings. She has been a member of the team for 10 years and is now a Director. She has a special interest in skin problems, behaviour, exotic pets and alternate therapies. Sharon is married with two young children.
	ANDREA GIBBS Andrea spent her early years in the Hawkes Bay and graduated from Massey University with a BVSc* in 1989. She has enjoyed mostly large animal work, including 3 years at Stratford in a dairy practice, 18 months in Oxted in the UK with an Equine practice followed by a mixed practice in Bulls. Andrea jumped at the chance to return to the Hawkes Bay when a position came available at Veterinary Associates in 1995 and she has been an important member of the Equine and Production Animal team ever since. She is married with two children and works part time on Mondays and Tuesdays.
	LINDA HURLSTONE-SMITH Linda graduated from Massey University with a BVSc* in 1988 and started work in a mixed practice in Horowhenua. She continues to enjoy working with both large (sheep and cattle) and small animals. She has been living and working in Hastings for 14 years, and is married with two children. She works at Veterinary Associates on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, spending the remaining time with her family.
	VICTORIA MARTIN Victoria graduated from Massey University with a BVSc* (with Distinction) in 2003. She has worked in the King Country for the last 3 years, and she enjoys both large and small animal work. She moved to the sunny Hawkes' Bay with her partner in 2007, and is looking forward to exploring the wineries in the area. Outside of work, Vic (as she wants to be known) enjoys keeping fit, the outdoors and making mosaics.
	JASON CLARK Jason grew up on a dairy farm in the King Country. He gained a BAgSc (Agricultural Science) and then a Masterate at Massey before spending 4 years in the Waikato working for Ambreed and Livestock Improvement. This was followed by a 5 year stint in Europe where he met his partner Kerrin who hails from Taradale. On returning to New Zealand in 2002 Jason began studies for his BVSc degree which he successfully completed. He is looking forward to making the most of life in the Hawkes Bay with Kerrin and their three children. He enjoys a range of outdoor activities including running, cycling, tramping, waterskiing and snowboarding.
	VIVIENNE ROBERTS Vivienne graduated from Massey University with a BVSc* in 1997. Viv started her career at Veterinary Associates, followed by a short stint in the South Island and then returned to us upon resettling in Hawkes Bay. She has enjoyed mixed animal practice, attending a range of animal species which includes; equine, dairy and small animals. Viv is married to a farmer and together they currently farm mostly deer, but the have also farmed sheep and reared calves. Viv has three young children and and is currently on maternity leave.
	SALLY COCKERILL Sally grew up on a farm and thoroughbred stud in Yorkshire, England, and graduated with a BVSc from Liverpool University in 2008. She had travelled to New Zealand for holidays and determined that this is where she would like to stay. After immigrating she joined an internship programme with the Canterbury Equine Clinic (an equine referral hospital) where she furthered her interests in equine work, especially anaesthesia and wound management. In her spare time Sally enjoys helping her fiance Nathan on their farm in Patoka. She also enjoys snowboarding in the winter months.
* Note, the degree “BVSc” is the Batchelor of Veterinary Science and this (or an equivalent from overseas) is a necessary requirement for registration as a Veterinary Surgeon in NZ. QUALIFIED VETERINARY NURSES
	DONNA FOUNTAINE Donna is a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse after graduating from Massey University in 1997. Donna first worked with us after graduation, but then she opted to explore the big wide world. She held locum positions in many UK clinics were she gained a wealth of knowledge, especially pocket pet medicine, including guinea pigs, birds and rabbits. After travelling all around the world for 4 years, she elected to return to Hawke's Bay, where she has rejoined our team as Head Nurse. Donna has recently been awarded the prestigious, inaugural"New Zealand Veterinary Nurse Association Veterinary Nurse of the Year". When she’s not at work Donna enjoys; snow boarding, mountain biking, playing sports and creating visual arts.
	KYRA KOSTER Kyra is a fully qualified veterinary nurse who graduated from Christchurch Polytechnic in 2001. After working in Upper Hutt for several years, she joined the Veterinary Associates team at the beginning of 2007. She has a special interest in caring for hospitalised patients. Outside of work she enjoys surfing, outdoors activities and art.
RECEPTIONISTS
	ROSEMARY JEFFERY Rosemary is our senior receptionist and has extensive reception/administration experience. Her previous employment included patient admissions at private hospitals and real estate receptionist. She showed German Shepherds for 10 years and spends much of her leisure time tramping and horse trekking.
	DIANE RILEY Diane was born and bred in “the Bay”. After working 10 years for a printing firm she moved overseas and spent 3 years in London. Diane joined the team as our second full time receptionist alongside Rosemary when she returned to Hastings in 2006. Outside of work her interests include; being part of the music team at her church, V8 car racing, nature walks and hanging out with friends.
	AMANDA GOODALL Amanda has worked at Veterinary Associates for 17 years. She has worked in a wide variety of positions, including vet nurse, reception and administration. Her love of animals is what led her to work within the veterinary industry. She has ridden horses for 16 years and has cats and dogs of her own at home. Amanda has a young family, and has returned from maternity leave to work part time on Mondays and Fridays. She is our part-time receptionist and administrative assistant.
	NADINE BOTT After spending seven years in a pharmacy, Nadine took a break from work with the birth of her first child. She joined the Veterinary Associates team as our weekend receptionist in June. She says that she enjoys spending the weekend at the clinic learning new skills and meeting new people and their pets.

RECENT COURSES
As you can see, all of our veterinarians are fully qualified and with a range of interests and a wealth of experience. However, veterinary medicine is a vibrant and active science,which is constantly developing new approaches to the way we diagnose and treat disease. Conferences, seminars and mixing with specialists are the means we use to keep abreast of this rapidly changing field.

Sharon attended a short course on sedation in cats and dogs, followed by Patrons Day at Massey University. At Patrons Day, the Small Animal Clinicians at Massey University discuss new options for treatment of specific problems and new specialist medicine that can be available on referral. She attended a Eukanuba sponsored session on "In-house testing of skin condition" which was extremely practical. The highlight of the year was attending the World Small Animal Veterinary Conference in Sydney, which included the best speakers from around the world, where she enjoyed five days of lectures on topics such as respiratory and heart medicine, cancer, behaviour, eyes and management. She has come back with lots of exciting information from leaders in these fields.

Linda has completed a study course on advances in small animal medicine, including the treatment of cancer, renal failure and hormonal diseases.

Donna has also attended a course on "Solving Animal Behaviour problems". She has completed VetScholar papers on Advanced Anaesthesiology" and has recently started the "Hills Nutritional Advisor" course. She has recently been invited to be a tutor in animal behaviour for the Veterinary Nursing Certificate at EIT.

Sharon, Donna and Kyra all attended a session from Hills covering the important topic of Hepatic Lipidosis. This potentially fatal disease affecting the liver can occur when over weight cats suddenly lose weight, such as they might when they become ill and stop eating. Preventing and treating this disease were excellently covered by the seminar.