Animal Lovers to Our Core
Caring for your pet isn’t our profession. It’s our calling.
Doctors
Doctors
Dr. Erin Galemore is an internal medicine specialist at New River Veterinary Specialists. She is a 2012 graduate of North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Following veterinary school, Dr. Galemore completed a small animal medicine and surgery rotating internship at BluePearl in Tampa, followed by a small animal internal medicine internship at Animal Specialty Group in Los Angeles. Following her internship training, Dr. Galemore completed a small animal internal medicine residency at Tufts University. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Dr. Galemore returned to the Southeast after her residency and helped build the internal medicine service at two locations of a multidisciplinary specialty hospital in east Tennessee. After three years of working as an internal medicine specialist, Dr. Galemore wanted to further her expertise and knowledge in minimally invasive procedures, so she completed a fellowship in interventional radiology at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Galemore is excited to be a part of the team at New River Veterinary Specialists and provide outstanding care to the community.
Dr. Galemore enjoys helping patients with complex medical issues, such as kidney disease, gastrointestinal disease, and endocrine disease. She has special interest in minimally invasive endoscopic procedures, nephrourology, infectious disease, and feline medicine. Dr. Galemore is proficient in placing urethral stents and ureteral stents, as well as laser ablation for ectopic ureters or urinary cancer. She is also skilled at performing minimally invasive urinary stone removal, including laser lithotripsy and percutaneous cystolithotomy. Dr. Galemore is passionate about the treatment of acute kidney injury and has experience performing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. She also has experience performing renal sclerotherapy, intrahepatic portosystemic shunt coil embolization, and tracheal stent placement. Dr. Galemore has published articles on feline Anaplasma infection, acute feline immunodeficiency virus infection, and canine polypoid cystitis.
Dr. Galemore takes pleasure in both treating patients in the hospital, as well as counseling clients about their beloved pets. She loves building long-term relationships with both patients and their human families. Dr. Galemore also enjoys teaching and supporting the veterinary community. She has been involved with clinical training of veterinary students, interns, residents, veterinary technicians, and veterinary technician students. She also uses her passion for teaching to provide continuing education, case support, and guidance for primary care veterinarians. Dr. Galemore understands the importance of having a cohesive team of caregivers for patients that involves everyone from the technical staff and veterinarians at our hospital to the primary care veterinarians and clients. She strives to ensure that all members of the care team work together and have open lines of communication to give the best possible outcome for each patient.
In her free time, Dr. Galemore enjoys the aerial arts, specifically aerial silks and trapeze dance, as well outdoor activities, like kayaking, paddle boarding, and hiking. She also loves traveling and spending time with her friends and family. Dr. Galemore shares her home with three cats, a dog, a tortoise, and a snake.
Dr. Wong is a California native who completed undergraduate training at UCLA and attended veterinary school at Western University College of Veterinary Medicine. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Novartis Surgical Excellence Award and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Certificate of Clinical excellence. After graduating from veterinary school in 2010, he pursued a competitive internship at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. His success in this internship led to his selection for a Small Animal Surgery Residency at a busy private practice, Animal Specialty Group, in Los, Angeles, CA (2011-2014). After finishing his residency, Dr. Wong became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Following completion of his surgical residency, Dr. Wong relocated to Massachusetts to build the surgery department at Wachusett Animal Hospital in Westminster, MA. He worked diligently for 3 years to increase the level of medicine and surgery to a higher standard, as he was the sole specialist at the hospital. Next, Dr. Wong decided to relocate to warmer weather and moved to Knoxville, TN. He joined Animal Emergency and Specialty Center, a busy practice with multiple specialists and two locations. He worked at both the Knoxville and Chattanooga locations, developing the surgical department and building caseload.
Dr. Wong is excited to be joining the team at New River Veterinary Specialists. His professional interests lie in orthopedics, oncologic surgery, and neurosurgery. He has lectured to the local veterinary communities and for veterinary students. Dr. Wong excels with routine surgical cases, but loves seeing unusual cases and collaborating with other specialists. Just as not every pet is the same, not every surgery is the same, and successful outcomes rely on cooperation of the owners, referring veterinarians, and specialists.
When not at work, Dr. Wong enjoys kayaking, paddle boarding, and hiking. He loves spending time with his spouse, 3 cats, and crazy dog.
Dr. Jennifer Au is co-founder and the Chief of Surgery and Physical Rehabilitation at New River Veterinary Specialists. A 1995 graduate of Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Au graduated in the top of her class. Following an internship in medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, she pursued emergency medicine in New York followed by Virginia for several years. Knowing she wanted to pursue specialization within the veterinary field, Dr. Au completed a Surgical Internship at the Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Norwalk, CT in 2003 followed by a 3-year Small Animal Surgical Residency at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine completed in 2006. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons – Small Animal since 2007. During her residency, she developed a strong interest in orthopedic surgery and passion for arthroscopy and physical rehabilitation.
After her residency, Dr. Au took a position as an assistant professor on the orthopedic faculty at Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. During this time, she became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist (CCRT) and took over supervision of the Advanced Rehabilitation Center at MSU. By 2008, she took an assistant professor position on the orthopedic faculty at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine along with supervising the physical rehabilitation department. During her time in academia, she helped develop and advance the clinical arthroscopy program along with training surgical residents in arthroscopy. She enjoyed teaching students in their 4th year clinical rotations along with classroom and lab education. Training interns and surgical residents, while watching them develop and master new skills, was also a point of pride. In 2013, she left academia to take a position as head surgeon and director of physical rehabilitation at a specialty referral practice in Charleston, SC. During this time, while developing and growing the surgery and physical rehabilitation departments, Dr. Au became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2014, already a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. In 2019, she moved to Virginia to help grow and develop a full-service specialty referral practice in Fredericksburg, VA. She is excited to return to the South Carolina, again teaming with Dr. Kristin Welch, to help lead New River Veterinary Specialists to become a regional center of excellence for Beaufort and Jasper Counties.
Dr. Au really enjoys helping her patients regain mobility, comfort, and improve quality of life through surgery and physical rehabilitation. She thoroughly enjoys joint arthroscopy, fracture management, and minimally invasive surgery along with challenging and interesting soft tissue and neurosurgical cases. She strongly believes that surgery and physical rehabilitation work together to provide the best outcome for her patients. In addition, she feels there are times surgery is the appropriate course of action and times when a less invasive, more conservative, approach is indicated and her recommendations are tailored to the individual patient’s needs.
Dr. Au has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed veterinary journals along with various abstracts and posters presented at scientific meetings. She has lectured, taught, and conducted hands-on labs regionally, nationally, and internationally. She has been an assistant professor at MSU and OSU along with an adjunct on-line professor with Massey University School of Veterinary Science in New Zealand. She currently serves on the editorial review board for two prominent peer-reviewed veterinary journals and teaches arthroscopy nationally with Arthex.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading, indoor plants, gardening, Corvettes, spending time outdoors and with her pets.
Dr. Elizabeth Ross,originally from South Florida, received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2016. She completed her clinical year (2015-2016) Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in Alabama followed by a Small Animal Rotating Medicine and Surgical Internship at Pieper Memorial’s 24 hour Emergency and Specialty Hospital in Connecticut. Her success in this internship led to her selection for the 3-year Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Residency at the high volume multispecialty Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center, completed in 2020. Dr. Ross is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care.
To get back to warmer weather, Dr. Ross relocated to South Carolina where she helped develop and expand the Critical Care service at Upstate Veterinary Specialists. The opportunity to contribute to the positive culture and growth of New River Veterinary Specialists piqued Dr. Ross’ interests and led her to join the NRVS Emergency and Critical Care team as a staff Criticalist.
Dr. Ross’ interests include coagulopathies, management of sepsis, diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar syndrome. Dr. Ross greatly enjoys teaching and mentoring technicians, interns and emergency doctors. She has been published in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her three cats, her fiancé Larry and her Goldendoodle Kramer. In her free time, Dr. Ross spends time fine tuning her photography skills, travelling, hiking, and running.
Dr. Kristin Welch is co-founder and Medical Director of New River Veterinary Specialists. A 2005 graduate of Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine with Honors, Dr. Welch received the top honor of the Small Animal Clinical Proficiency Award as well as the Wade O. Brinker Orthopedic Surgery Award. Following an Internship in Medicine and Surgery at University of Pennsylvania in 2006, she completed a residency in Emergency and Critical Care at Tufts University in 2010. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care.
Dr. Welch relocated after residency to Charleston, SC where she helped grow the Southeast’s first and only VECCS Level I Emergency and Critical Care certified hospital as Chief of Emergency and Critical Care. After spending a decade proudly serving the veterinarians, clients and pets of the Charleston region, Dr. Welch is excited to be leading the team at New River Veterinary Specialists to become a regional center of excellence for Beaufort and Jasper Counties.
Dr. Welch enjoys complicated anesthetic cases and patients with multiple metabolic, endocrine, cardiac, respiratory and other comorbidities. She is proficient in mechanical ventilation, dialysis and interventional procedures including tracheal stent placement. Dr. Welch is passionate about diagnostic abdominal, thoracic and cervical ultrasound and enjoys upper GI endoscopy and endoscopic foreign body retrieval. Dr. Welch has an equal love for Internal Medicine and Emergency Critical Care. Her clinical interests are trauma and fluid resuscitation, transfusion medicine, metabolic cases and respiratory emergencies.
Dr. Welch loves solving complicated case, decoding clinical data and most of all, helping her veterinary colleagues succeed in their drive to provide the highest caliber medicine possible to their patients. Her love of teaching, passion about all things veterinary medicine and dedication to the field of emergency and critical care led her to develop DVM STAT Consulting, a platform for veterinarian education serving veterinarians across the United States. Dr. Welch has been an active lecturer since 2006 and loves teaching students, veterinarians and veterinary technicians. She has been an adjunct lecturer for the Veterinary Technology Program at TridentTechnical College. She also has taught internationally through the online platform VetScope. She has published in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society, the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and Clinical Veterinary Advisor. Dr. Welch is on the Veterinary Professionals’ NextGen NEXTBOARD as an advisor and mentor to the new generation of veterinarians.
Outside of work, she loves paddle boarding, sunsets, photography, painting and spending time with her family.
Dr. Sean Ellison is an Emergency doctor at New River Veterinary Specialists. Originally from Madison, WI, Dr. Ellison received a BS in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and subsequently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. Thereafter, he completed a year-long dedicated emergency and critical care internship at the Animal Emergency Center (now Lakeshore Veterinary Specialists) in Glendale, WI and has worked nearly exclusively in emergency medicine since that time, primarily at several large, multispecialty hospitals.
Dr. Ellison’s passion for emergency and critical care medicine developed working, prior to veterinary school, as an assistant at an emergency clinic in Madison and has grown over time. He deeply enjoys rapidly affecting a patient’s well-being and helping to provide comfort to the patient and their family. The collaborative and didactic nature of a multispecialty hospital has always appealed to him as it facilitates comprehensive and optimal patient care and perpetuation of knowledge. For this reason, he is ecstatic to become a part of New River Veterinary Specialists from the outset.
Dr. Ellison enjoys all aspects of emergency and critical care medicine, and has special interests in pain management, fluid therapy, surgical wound management, sepsis and shock. Mentoring new veterinarians and working as a cohesive team with his veterinarian, veterinary nurse, assistant and receptionist colleagues is one aspect of veterinary medicine that Dr. Ellison focuses on daily.
He moved initially to North Carolina in 2006 and then relocated to South Carolina in 2018. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Brandy, their ultra-spoiled Chihuahua Mix, Bentley and Cockatiel, Monty. Dr. Ellison is an unabashed technophile and bibliophile and enjoys fitness and nutrition.
Dr. Matthew Nathan is co-founder of New River Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Nathan was born and raised on Long Island, and received his Bachelors of Science in Psychology at C.W. Post University. Dr. Nathan then obtained his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and completed veterinary school with his clinical year of veterinary training at University of Florida during which he discovered his passion for emergency medicine and oncology.
Dr. Nathan went on to complete a Small Animal Surgery and Medicine Internship at Carolina Veterinary Specialists in North Carolina where he was able to concentrate on emergency and critical care in their high volume ER. Concurrently, he pursued several oncology externships to further broaden his knowledge base in medical and surgical oncology. After veterinary school, the appeal of southern living lured him to South Carolina. During his 4 years in the Lowcountry, Dr. Nathan has practiced in a busy emergency and referral practice as well as in general practice gaining extensive emergency, medical and surgical experience.
Dr. Nathan always felt that the work-life balance in veterinary medicine, especially emergency medicine, was strained. Dr. Nathan’s long term vision has always been to invoke change in the veterinary field. His vision for change is multifaceted: to decrease burn out, improve work-life balance, train employees to be the best in their field, improve community relations and last, but not least, to set a new, higher, standard for veterinary medicine.
While practicing emergency medicine, Dr. Nathan quickly realized the Beaufort/Bluffton area was underserved for emergency and specialty care. Unfortunately, many clients were forced to make the long (not to mention stressful) trek to seek 24/7 specialized and emergency care. Dr. Nathan has sought out a like minded partnership team with the ever-present goal of providing the highest quality medicine and personalized client care. Dr. Nathan remains committed to providing not only the best medicine for your pet but also compassionate care during traumatic situations.
Dr. Nathan has many interests but above all, he values his time with family and friends. Exercise and personal fitness (especially if outdoors) is important to him and he tries to make time to enjoy hiking, skiing, and paddle boarding. Living in the south also comes with a vast array of amazing cuisine, and Dr. Nathan loves trying new restaurants as well as attempting new recipes himself. He is a voracious reader and book collector and loves all aspects of world history. He has made several trips abroad and hopes someday to be able to do so again. During veterinary school, Dr. Nathan traveled abroad to contribute to provide veterinary services in underserved communities. He worked with SAWorldVets in an intensive Rhino conservation program in South Africa. The following year he traveled to Costa Rica and Nicaragua to provide veterinary medical and surgical care for the local communities. Dr. Nathan hopes to continue improving the level of veterinary care both locally and internationally. Dr. Nathan’s only current pet is his extremely vocal and assertive black cat (Toothless).
Dr. Jeff Davis is co-founder of New River Veterinary Specialists (NRVS). His business acumen and passion for veterinary medicine intertwine the many aspects of the financial, operational and business development activities at New River.
Dr. Davis was born and raised in northwest Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri-College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. He practiced in Missouri for 2 years after graduation but knew his heart belonged in the South. In 2011, Dr. Davis moved to South Carolina and immediately knew he was going to be here forever. After spending 4 years as an associate veterinarian, he knew he wanted the opportunity to build and create something special on his own – to take steps toward changing the veterinary profession for the better. His equal enthusiasm for veterinary medicine and business has guided him to become owner of multiple clinics throughout Greater Charleston and his next endeavor, New River Veterinary Specialists.
Dr. Davis is passionate about bringing a state-of-the-art referral facility to the Greater Bluffton area and can’t speak highly enough about the amazing team NRVS has brought together. “Soon, mid-2022, the Greater Bluffton area will be able to access truly life changing (and lifesaving!) veterinary care at their doorstep, and the culture and camaraderie forged with the local veterinarians will promote relationships that will last a lifetime. I’m beyond excited to bring something incredibly special to the entire Southeast.”
Dr. Davis believes that no two patients are the same and excellent medical care is individualized and requires a cohesive relationship between the primary care veterinarian, our emergency and specialty teams and a loving family on the other side of the leash. This triad of care is what New River Veterinary Specialists is all about.
Besides being a veterinarian, Dr. Davis proudly serves in the United States Air National Guard as a public health officer for the state of Missouri. He has served our nation’s military for over 20 years.Dr. Davis is blessed to share his life with his wife, Kerry, their daughter Moorea (“Mo”) and their (very rotten) beagle, Bernard. In their free time, they enjoy trying new cuisine, traveling, and doing home improvement projects.
Dr. Arnaldo Torres is an Emergency doctor at New River Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Torres received both a Bachelors of Science and Master of Science in Physiology from Purdue. He completed his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Ross University and went on to complete a Small Animal Rotating Internship in Medicine and Surgery at Michigan State University. Dr. Torres fell in love with both internal medicine and emergency and elected to focus his career in the fast paced field of emergency and critical care medicine.
Dr. Torres worked as an emergency clinician at busy veterinary emergency and specialty hospitals in Philadelphia and Massachusetts for the next five years before relocating to South Carolina in 2011. Dr. Torres continued to practice as an emergency doctor at a busy specialty hospital over the next decade in South Carolina prior to recently relocating to the Bluffton region. Dr. Torres is excited to continue to provide the highest levels of emergency medicine to the patients and clients at New River Veterinary Specialists.
Dr. Torres’ clinical interests include ultrasound, toxicities, metabolic emergencies and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Dr. Torres also enjoys client education and believes that clear and detailed communication is one of the most important parts of his job. He is an experienced resource for the emergency critical care staff and really takes pride in mentoring and training more junior members of the ER team.
Outside of work, Dr. Torres enjoys traveling, landscape design, spending time with his family and living by the water.
Dr. Megan Cook is an Emergency doctor at New River Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Cook graduated from Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Megan has nearly a decade of Emergency medicine and surgical experience and she is passionate about providing top tier emergency medical care to her patients. Dr. Cook has practiced locally for the last 6 years in the Charleston region of South Carolina and is excited to relocate to the Bluffton area to build long lasting relationships with the clients, referring veterinarians and pets of this region of the Lowcountry.
Dr. Cook enjoys the fast pace of the ER and likes to treat patients with toxicities, traumatic injuries, and surgical disease processes. Dr. Cook is also dedicated to ensuring that patients are comfortable and anxiety free while in the hospital and has a special interest in multimodal pain management and anxiety mitigation. She also takes comfort in providing peace for patients and solace for owners with end of life decisions.
Outside of work, Dr. Cook enjoys traveling with her husband and dog, hiking, and managing her AirBnB cabin in North Carolina. She is always aiming to expand her knowledge of real estate and health and wellness. She and her husband share their homes with their dog Steve and 2 cats, Fern and Niko.
