Meet the Team at Bridger Veterinary Specialists & Emergency

Dr. Josh Jackson is a board-certified, Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Having grown up on a ranch in Northern New Mexico, he developed an early love for all animals. His father’s influence as a General Surgeon for people led to an early interest in surgery. Dr. Jackson went to veterinary school at Colorado State University where he graduated a member of the Phi Zeta honor society. He went on to perform a rotating internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego and a residency in surgery at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Jackson returned to San Diego and founded the surgery service at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital. Under his directorship, the service has grown to seven surgeons performing thousands of surgeries every year. As an active mentor to over 140 interns and residents, Dr. Jackson has helped many young surgeons achieve diplomate status. Dr. Jackson has broad clinical interests in surgery, ranging from total hip replacements to advanced soft tissue and reconstructive techniques. He has lectured nationally and internationally on cruciate ligament disease, total hip replacement and orthopedic implants and published numerous scientific articles on a variety of soft tissue and orthopedic topics. Dr. Jackson was founder of the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of Hong Kong, the first specialty referral-only hospital in Asia. He was also founder of FACE, a non-profit organization that has saved thousands of pets in the San Diego region from euthanasia for economic reasons.

Dr. Jackson is now happy to bring his years of experience to the pets and people of Montana. He is excited to bring 24-hr, specialty care to the region and looks forward to expanding the services currently available in the area. His free time is spent exploring the rivers, trails and slopes of Montana with his family and his two black labs, Panther and Madison.

Dr. Hilary Jackson grew up in New England and in western Colorado. After completing her undergraduate degree at Williams College, she moved back to Colorado, where she spent several years competing on the IFSA World Tour as a professional big mountain free skier and ski cross racer. Her true passion has always been working with animals, and she ultimately left the ski world for veterinary school. She graduated from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. After veterinary school, she completed a 1 year rotating small animal internship at VCA Emergency Animal Hospital and Referral Center in San Diego, where she was awarded Intern of the Year. She subsequently spent 5 years in general practice at Del Mar Heights Veterinary Hospital in San Diego. After moving to Bozeman in 2018, she and her husband founded Bridger Veterinary Specialists. In her spare time she enjoys skiing, hiking, biking and exploring Montana with her family. The Jacksons have two black labs, Panther and Madison, as well as two cats, Bandit and Simba. 

Dr. Jason Wheeler was born and raised in Ft. Myers on Florida’s gulf coast. Dr. Wheeler returned to the University of Florida for a combined master’s degree and residency in small animal surgery. During his residency he won several awards for excellence in clinical research from the University of Florida, the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, and the Veterinary Orthopedic. He has been involved in multiple research studies and has authored or coauthored over 20 peer reviewed scientific publications. Dr. Wheeler has since worked at a large referral center in Denver and co-founded a multispecialty clinic in Virginia. Dr. Wheeler and his wife Marion have 3 wonderful daughters who all enjoy the sense of community and love of the outdoors found in Bozeman. 

Dr. Wheeler has a broad interest in veterinary surgery including wound management, cranial cruciate ligament instability, joint replacement, elbow dysplasia, fracture repair and oncologic surgery. In his free time, Dr. Wheeler and his wife Marion stay busy with their girls who enjoy camping, hiking and their dogs Waffles and Pickles. 

Dr. Deandra Owen is a native of Boston, Massachusetts and knew from an early age that she wanted to spend her life helping animals. While studying Animal Science at the University of Vermont, she fell in love with the mountains. Dr. Owen was accepted early to Tufts University where she received her veterinary degree in 2012. It was during this time that she was drawn to the field of surgery and was awarded the Faculty Award for Excellence in Small Animal Surgery. Dr. Owen remained in Boston to complete a small animal rotating internship at Angell Animal Medical Center, one of the busiest veterinary specialty hospitals in the world. She then traveled to Texas where she trained as a surgical intern under world-renowned veterinary surgeons at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Owen returned to Angell for a surgical residency. During this time, she received the Mark S. Bloomberg Memorial Resident Research Award from the Veterinary Orthopedic Society for her publication on TPLO. Upon completing her residency, Dr. Owen moved to Phoenix, where she worked at a busy private specialty hospital and helped to develop an orthopedic surgery service. But the mountains were calling, and Dr. Owen knew the state-of-the-art facility at Bridger Veterinary Specialists with its highly skilled team members was where she wanted to be. 

Dr. Owen has lectured at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Symposium and has been an instructor for courses on TPLO and fracture repair. Her professional interests include fracture repair, TPLO, hip dysplasia, and total hip replacement, as well as emergency and reconstructive soft tissue surgery. She has obtained certifications in Biomedtrix Total Hip Replacement, Interlocking Nail (I-Loc) fracture repair, and IMEX External Skeletal Fixation.  

In her spare time, Dr. Owen enjoys snowboarding, hiking, CrossFit, live music, and playing with her cats, Loki and Thor. She also holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She is looking forward to getting another dog, and has a soft spot for Labrador Retrievers. Dr. Owen and her husband, Chris, are excited to become members of the Bozeman community! 

Dr. Hanlon was born and raised in Prosser, Washington, and attended Montana State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology. He then attended Washington State University for veterinary school, where he discovered his passion for surgery.

He completed a rotating internship at The Ohio State University before matching into a combined master’s and surgery residency program at the University of Florida. Dr. Hanlon completed his residency in July 2026 and moved straight back to Bozeman with his wife, Callie, and their two dogs, Owen and Bitty.

A former fly fishing guide, Dr. Hanlon spends much of his free time fishing, but he also enjoys skiing and hunting. He is passionate about research, with much of his work focused on orthopedic trauma, as well as orthopedic and soft tissue implant development.

Dr. Mitek fell in love with anesthesiology and pain management after anesthetizing a sick horse during her last year of veterinary school. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia & Analgesia, and enjoys working with high-risk patients who need surgery. She was born and raised in the Washington, DC area and went to undergrad at Cornell University. After graduating from veterinary school at the University of Illinois, she stayed on as a rotating surgery, medicine and emergency intern, where she also completed her residency and Master’s degree in Anesthesiology.  

For the past 7 years she has been teaching at the University of Illinois, and is excited to be in the mountains instead of flat cornfields! As one of the region's only board-certified anesthesiologists, she is excited to bring excellent anesthesiology and pain management care to Bridger’s patients.   

When she is not in operating rooms, she is learning how to fly fish and enjoys hiking with her dog Winston.   

Dr. Britt Culver is a Wyoming native and attended the University of Wyoming for his undergraduate training. He then graduated from Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. He pursued advanced training in internal medicine, spending one year at Purdue University and three years at Virginia Tech. He is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine as a small animal internal medicine specialist. After his residency in 1996 he moved to Montana to practice as a veterinary internist seeing internal medicine, cardiology, and oncology cases. Since the fall of 2011, he has also been employed by Abaxis Veterinary Reference Laboratory as an internal medicine consultant. 

In addition to veterinary medicine, Dr. Culver loves to spend time with his family. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors, whether that be on a golf course, trout stream, or in the mountains. 

Patrick Khalife, DVM, DACVIM- (Oncology) is Veterinary Medical Oncologist that joined the BVS team in 2026. Originally from Denver, Colorado, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Colorado State University before receiving his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Western University of Health Sciences. He completed a small animal rotating internship at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital before pursuing advanced training in medical oncology. He completed his medical oncology residency at Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego. 

Dr. Khalife has a strong interest in veterinary oncology, research, and advancing care for pets with cancer. Outside of veterinary medicine, he enjoys spending time outdoors with friends, and family. 

Dr. Blaise Burke is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Radiology, (Radiation Oncology), ACVR (RO). He grew up in Richmond, VA, and spent the balance of his life there before moving to San Diego after finishing his training.  Dr. Burke had no idea he wanted to be a veterinarian until he was 24. He studied languages and political science, hoping to work for Uncle Sam, but the Berlin Wall came down, the world changed, and so did he. He found his true calling in working with animals when he got a job with an old-school vet, working as a veterinary assistant. That experience set him straight and he went on to vet school at Virginia Tech.  

Dr. Burke then completed a rotating internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego and followed that with a combined residency in medical and radiation oncology at Cornell University. Dr. Burke returned to San Diego and founded the radiation oncology service at VSH, the first such service in that city. Under his directorship, the service grew quickly, and currently serves families from the region, as well as more distant locations such as Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. 

Dr. Burke is active in clinical research and has promoted students, interns and residents as they move forward in their careers. He is less interested in his own achievements as he is in theirs. Under his direction, three peer-reviewed papers have been published, four theses have been submitted, and three abstracts have been presented. He hopes to keep pumping up those numbers. 

When not killing cancer, Dr. Burke enjoys teaching Japanese martial arts and trying to identify birds. He is really good at one and not so good at the other. 

Dr. Robert (Bob) Bergman visits Montana on a regular basis to see neurology cases and perform neurosurgery at BVS. He graduated from the University of Georgia and completed advanced training in neurology and neurosurgery at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. He completed a Master's Degree at Virginia Tech focusing on neuroscience and cerebrospinal fluid. He is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine as a small animal neurologist. 

Carlos Valerio joined the BVS team as our new full-time neurologist in 2024. Raised in Costa Rica, Carlos grew up surrounded by family and pets, fostering a deep connection with animals from an early age. At Washington State University, he completed an emergency and critical care internship, followed by intensive training in neurology and neurosurgery, completing an internship and a residency. He was recently granted diplomate status in Neurology by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. His experiences at WSU exposed him to the acute need for neurological services in Montana, where patients often traveled extensive distances for care at WSU. Driven by a desire to address this gap and a personal draw to Montana's beauty, Carlos is thrilled to be joining the Bridger Veterinary Specialists neurology service and looks forward to making a meaningful impact. Carlos also hopes to be an active part of the community where he can enjoy hobbies, like camping, fishing, hiking, hockey, tennis and soccer but also finding areas to serve the community outside of his professional field. 

Dr. Evans is a proud graduate of Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He completed a dentistry and oral surgery residency at The Pet Dentist in Tampa Bay and is Board Certified by the American Veterinary Dental College. Prior to pursuing his residency training he practiced in Montana for many years, where his love for both veterinary dentistry and the Big Sky country started. He is excited to be returning to the place he considers home to provide specialty dental care. Every day he sees how improving oral health can improve overall quality of life, and he is motivated by a sincere desire to help people by helping their pets. A true "dental nerd" he enjoys all aspects of his job from client education to advanced oral surgery. In his free time, he can’t seem to sit still and tries to spend as much time as possible outside—generally trying to get lost in the woods. Dr. Evans is excited to be a part of the BVS team and getting to know his clients and their furry family.   

Dr. Chele Lathroum is a board-certified Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC). Originally from Ocean City, Maryland, her love for animals began at home—her family was always surrounded by pets, with at least three dogs, two cats, and the occasional bird or lizard. Her parents frequently opened their doors to strays in need, instilling in her a deep compassion for animals and inspiring her to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. 

Dr. Lathroum was one of the first students to complete the dual-degree program at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, earning both a Master of Science by Research and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her clinical year in small animal medicine at Colorado State University, where she discovered her passion for emergency medicine. 

Following veterinary school, she completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston—one of the busiest veterinary specialty hospitals in the world. She then pursued a residency in Emergency and Critical Care at the University of Wisconsin, where she was honored with the Zoe and Lexi Wells Emergency and Critical Care Resident Award for outstanding performance during her training. 

Dr. Lathroum is drawn to emergency and critical care medicine for its fast-paced, complex, and diverse nature. She is especially passionate about giving even the sickest patients a fighting chance to return home and spend more time with their families. Her clinical interests are broad and include respiratory distress, trauma, post-surgical care, blood transfusion medicine, and more. 

A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Dr. Lathroum was drawn to the mountains of Montana and is proud to be part of the team at Bridger Veterinary Specialists. Outside the hospital, she enjoys snowboarding in the winter, and hiking or paddleboarding in the summer with her family. She's often joined by her adventurous Akita mix, Howl—and occasionally even one of her two cats, GiGi or Squash, tagging along on her outdoor adventures. 

Dr. Monique “Mo” Ramras joined the BVS team in October of 2026. She earned her DVM from Oregon State University’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine before completing a small animal rotating internship at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital and a three-year Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care residency at Cornell University Hospital for Animals. Her advanced training includes the stabilization and management of critically ill and injured patients, with particular experience in complex emergency and ICU cases. She is also a RECOVER Certified Instructor and has extensive experience teaching and mentoring veterinary students, interns, and residents.     

Outside of the hospital, Mo is a competitive trail ultramarathon runner and enjoys ski touring, rock climbing, backpacking, art, and cooking.

Bio coming soon!

Dan joined the BVS team in 2024. Dan is an graduate of Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine and brings many years of emergency experience to the team. When not working he enjoys many of the outdoor activies that Montana has to offer and spending time with his family.

Bio coming soon!

Travis grew up in central North Carolina. After completing his undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University, he moved on to Indiana State University and obtained a Master of Science in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics with a focus in animal behavior. This interest in animal behavior led him to Michigan State University for veterinary school. After veterinary school he continued north to Calgary, AB where he did a small animal rotating internship where he fell in love with the Rocky Mountains and emergency medicine. After his internship, Travis followed the Rocky Mountains south where he worked as an emergency doctor for 4 years at a large specialty and referral hospital outside of Denver, CO. He has done relief work in Washington, Oregon, and North Carolina, and spent time working and traveling through Alaska before returning to North Carolina. After a couple of years in North Carolina, Travis realized he needed to be near the Rocky Mountains, so he and his wife took 6 months traveling the country in their camper and settled in Bozeman in 2020. After teaching anesthesia-related topics in industry for the last 7 years, he is excited to get back to patient care. He and his wife have a daughter and a dog named Scout, and in his free time he enjoys beekeeping.

Bio coming soon!