Bridger Veterinary Specialists

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, Django 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. 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.

Growing up in Bozeman, Montana, Dr. Carlsten realized her passion for helping animals when she was a high school student working as a Veterinary Assistant at a local clinic. She went on to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and veterinary acupuncture certification at Colorado State University before heading to The Ohio State University for a small animal medicine and surgery internship. Dr. Carlsten returned to Colorado State University where she completed an oncology clinical trials internship, masters degree, and medical oncology residency. For the past six years, she has been practicing oncology at a specialty hospital in Santa Rosa, California.

As one of the region’s only board-certified oncologists, Dr. Carlsten is excited to bring compassionate cancer care to Bozeman and the surrounding areas. Dr. Carlsten focuses on quality-of-life for all of her patients and their owners and has special interests in the human-animal-bond and hospice care. Her previous research focused on combination therapy for mast cell tumors, pet hospice, and client education.

Now that she’s back home in Bozeman, you may catch Dr. Carlsten fly-fishing, kayaking or hiking with her husband Paul and two dogs, Bridger and Edwin.

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 will be visiting Montana preiodically to see neurology cases and perform neurosurgery at BVS. He graduated from the Uniersity 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.

Dr. Crystal Eng is a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist native to Texas. She completed her undergraduate degrees at Texas A&M where she focused on animal reproduction and cloning thinking she would be a reproductive specialist for endangered and exotics species. She delayed veterinary school for a position helping breed exotic animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and then a master’s graduate program working in elephant reproduction. Once completing her veterinary degree, she practiced mixed animal and emergency medicine before finding her way to ophthalmology. In 2020 she completed a private practice residency in Dallas and currently works around the world.

Dr. Eng is excited to be able to bring her skills in ophthalmology to serve the pets, working animals, and wildlife of Montana. She is passionate about doing everything possible to help all animals keep, save, or regain their vision. 

In her spare time, she travels the world, wake surfs, trail rides, skis, and performs on the flying trapeze. She is excited to explore the trails, fishing, and outdoors that Montana has to offer. 

Bio coming soon!

Dr. Meredith (Miyo) Murtagh graduated from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. After graduation, she worked for 11 years at a large emergency and speciality hospital in Washington, DC. Miyo moved to Bozeman in 2014 and worked at PETS Emergency until 2021. In 2021 Miyo joined the Bridger Veterinary Specialists team as one of our in-patient doctors. Miyo oversees the care of hospitalized patients during the day. When she is not caring for patients at Bridger Veterinary Specialists she can usually be found at the gym or somewhere outside with her Akita, Kangi. 

Jennifer and her family, including her animal family, moved to Bozeman in 2015 after more than 30 years in Colorado. Although she loved living in Estes Park, she was ready to  experience something new. Living in Montana has given Jennifer endless opportunities to explore the mountains, camp, hike, climb, cycle and ski. Jennifer has worked in general and emergency practice for 24 years and loves the variety that veterinary medicine and surgery has to offer. Her favorite part of practice is working with pet owners to ensure they get as much care as their animals do. In 2021 Jennifer joined the Bridger Veterinary Specialists team as one of our in-patient doctors. Jennifer oversees the care of hospitalized patients during the day. Jennifer is really excited about joining Bridger Veterinary Specialists because of the quality of medicine and surgery they offer and the dedication of the entire staff. 

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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.

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Erika is our hospital manager. She is a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager and brings many years of experience to the practice. After dreaming of living in Montana for many years, Erika relocated to Bozeman in 2017. When not working she enjoys hiking, spending time with her family, and visiting Yellowstone National Park. She is entertained by the funny things her very quirky Berger Picard dog named Wylie does.

Brittni is one of our oncology team members. She has been with us since we opened in November 2018. Brittni is very dedicated to her oncology patients and enjoys helping their owners while their pets are undergoing treatment. When she's not working she enjoys hiking, running or reading a good book. She enjoys spending time with her dogs, Killian a German Shepherd mix and Otter, a puppy that Brittni fostered for a local rescue organization and ended up adopting. 

Kaitlyn is a Certified Veterinary Technician and splits her time between caring for surgery patients and our patients that are hospitalized. She joined our team October 2019. When she's not working she enjoys a good book and does woodburning as a hobby. Kaitlyn has 3 dogs, two Siberian Huskies, Koda and Nico and Charlie, a mixed breed. 

Deb joined the team January 2020 and is a Certified Veterinary Technician. Deb usually works in our surgery department but has many years of emergency and critical care experience. Deb is a very active person that enjoys running, hiking and backpacking into less traveled areas around us. She has 2 dogs, Kamber an Alaskan Malamute and Burton a Chocolate Lab. 

Andrea moved her from Colorado and joined the team October 2020. She works primarily in our internal medicine department and also cares for our hospitalized patients. She enjoys running and doing activities with her dog Tiva when she's not working. 

Angela is one of our front office superstars. She is always willing to help and has a big heart when animals are concerned. She joined the team March 2020. When she is not working she enjoys spending time with her dogs. Sparkles and Joey are chihuahuas and Alpine, is a Border Collie mix. 

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Addy is one of our oncology team members. She has been with us since March 2021. Addy is very dedicated to her oncology patients and enjoys helping their owners while their pets are undergoing treatment. When she's not working she enjoys hiking,backpacking, camping and cross stitch. Addy rescues senior dogs that need homes. She currently has Shayla, a Miniature Pinscher. She adopted her when Shayla was 14 years old. 

PJ is a Certified Veterinary Technician and works primarily in our surgery department. PJ joined the team in October 2019. When PJ isn't taking care of surgical patients, she enjoys horseback riding and playing polo. She has two dogs, Mozie a Shetland Sheepdog and Shego a Black Lab. 

Kenna joined our team in January 2022 after graduating from a program in Veterinary Technology. Kenna works in our treatment department caring for patients that are hospitalized. She has a Borderdoodle named Molly and when she's not working she enjoys reading. 

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Ellie is a licensed veterinary technician that has been working in the valley for 11 years. Originally from Ely, Minnesota, Ellie joined the BVS team in April 2023. Ellie has been working in our radiation oncology department and loves all the hands on patient care. When Ellie isn't working you can find her doing crafts, going on camping trips and spending time with her rescue dog Amos, and 2 rabbits.

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Megan joined the BVS team in September 2023. She was previously part of our Sentinel team in Missoula. Megan was born and raised in southwest Montana where she found her passion for science and animal care at a young age. She started her pursuit of animal care, knowledge, and eventually leadership in 4-H.

Megan’s veterinary career began in Montana in 2007 as a kennel assistant and quickly evolved into a veterinary assistant. As her knowledge grew, so did her newfound love of veterinary medicine. After three years of working in a mixed animal practice, Megan moved to Colorado to further her education in veterinary medicine.

Megan graduated from Pima Medical Institute in 2014 and was certified as a veterinary technician soon after. That same year, Megan found her niche in the veterinary world- Emergency and Critical Care and cannot imagine doing anything else, she has worked in Emergency Critical Care ever since.

Her passion for emergency and critical care is vast, yet she truly enjoys the stabilization and long-term care of critically ill patients with focuses in shock, sepsis, electrolyte disorders and CPR. Megan joined our team at Bridger Veterinary Specialists fall of 2023.

When not at work or geeking out in a vet-med book, Megan can be found spending time with her fiance, her young dog, George, her old man cat, and her family. She enjoys black and white photography, nights in the yard around the fire pit, playing in the mountains, and a good game night- whether that is cards, a board game, or Nintendo (old and new!).

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Patricia joined the BVS team June 2021 after retiring from MSU where she worked as a higher education administrator.  You have likely talked to Patricia on the phone or via email, as she works in our reception department.  She enjoys hiking, camping, boating and being a grandma when she's not helping clients. She has two Golden Retrievers, Chloe and Yeti. 

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Kaylee joined the team in September 2021. She is a pre-vet student at MSU. Kaylee works in our surgery department both with patients and caring for our surgical instruments and supplies. She enjoys hiking and mountain climbing when she is not working and has plans to hike Mount Denali in summer 2022. 

Andrew started working for Bridger Veterinary Specialists in 2021. Originally from Utah, he moved to Bozeman in October 2021. Andrew primarily works assisting our oncology department. When he's not working he enjoys hiking and raising insects as a hobby.  If you look closely at his profile picture you will see three of his stick insects that he has raised. 

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Ethan is currently a full-time student at MSU and works in our surgery department. When he's not working he enjoys fishing, snowboarding, cooking and fitness. He joined the BVS team in 2023 and is excited to learn as much as he can about all things veterinary related. 

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Lizzy joined the team in June of 2023. She works in the Internal Medicine Department and will be attending Iowa State University of Veterinary Medicine this fall. Lizzy loves the complex cases that come through the department and enjoys working closely with her patients. She loves spending time mountain biking and trail running with her beloved Idaho Shag dog, Spokes

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