Veterinary Nursing Staff

Amy Bradbury

I was lucky enough to have grown up always having pets in our house. I love all animals and my home just feels empty without pets. I didn’t realize that I wanted to help animals and work with them on another level until I was a bit older. I was working at an environmental company and felt like I should be doing something else with my life; something more rewarding. It was my dad who suggested I look into being a veterinary technician since I have always shown such a passion for animals. I started taking classes at Central Carolina Community College and worked at a general practice veterinary hospital while in school. I graduated in 2000 and took my national and state boards to become a registered veterinary technician that same year.

After school I continued to work in general practices for many years and also worked at a veterinary teaching hospital where I was introduced to working in a specialty – Oncology.

Amie Malnati

I’ve always loved animals. I remember “rescuing” little critters while growing up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. My first exposure to the medical side of animal care came in high school when I had the opportunity to work as a veterinary assistant. It was there that I developed my passion for veterinary medicine and knew I wanted to have a career in this field, so I enrolled in the Veterinary Technology program at Vermont Technical College.

I did an internship in North Carolina and fell in love with the area. After graduation in 2006, I relocated to the Raleigh area and took my national and state boards to become a Registered Veterinary Technician.

Susan Pate
	As a small child I realized that I had a special love for animals. It seemed like all I wanted to do was play, rub, and love them. As I got older that love continued to grow, but I realized there was more to it than just rubbing and playing. I wanted to care for them, make them feel better when they were sick, and help comfort them even if they were scared and away from home.

It was at that point I knew what I was to do with my life.

Amy Qaddomi

In my junior year of high school I was still unsure what I wanted to study at college. I have always loved animals but knew veterinary school wasn't for me. I was working with my guidance counselor and he looked into some options for me and found a veterinary technician program at a private school in Buffalo NY (Medaille College). I did some research and visited some local veterinary hospitals and decided that this profession would be perfect for me. I applied to Medaille and was accepted.

I graduated in 1995 and passed the boards that summer. I worked in general practice for about 10 years (four years in a small animal practice in New York and six years in North Carolina). I decided to pursue a different angle and was offered a job at VSH in 2005.

Shannon Nowak
	I came to VSH right out of college. Beforehand, I had several years of general practice experience, doing as much as my employers would let an uneducated, pre-veterinary technology student do. I attended Michigan State University, a four-year accredited Bachelor’s program in Veterinary Technology. My entire senior year was spent doing clerkships in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

This experience proved to be invaluable and definitely helped me fit into the fast paced environment of VSH’s ICU.

Suvi Thomas

According to my parents my vocabulary included a word "koira" (dog in Finnish) at a very early age. The first sentences that came out of my mouth were probably asking for a dog. Today, I am a lucky owner of five dogs! I am also interested in poultry medicine, and have a chicken coop with 10 hens. The remaining time after work I like to spend at a horse barn taking care of my lease horse and training dressage riding. I could not imagine my life without animal contact and when I saw that there was a program at Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) for Veterinary Medical Technology I had no hesitation to apply.

I had previously (in 1998) earned my Masters in Science at the University Of Helsinki in Finland with my major being Soil and Environmental Chemistry. I graduated from CCCC in 2004 and have worked at VSH since. The first two years at VSH gave me valuable experience in Emergency and Critical Care as I worked in ICU second shift. Since then I have worked as an anesthetist in our surgery department. I have found my calling in anesthesia. I enjoy the challenge, detail, responsibility, and variability of my job!

Lucy Sumners

I always knew I wanted to work with animals when I grew up. When I was a child, I spent lots of time teaching my cat tricks (later realizing that he was just extremely food motivated). I always felt that I could relate to animals very well. That all changed in high school. My sciences classes in high school were terrible and deterred me from pursuing a career in veterinary medicine, or any career involving science or math for that matter.

I completed an undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Rhode Island in art history, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, once I graduated, I found myself without any prospect in which to use my degree. I could not find a job because I had no practical museum experience.

Kara Wass

I grew up with dogs, cats and horses but I have always had a huge affection for any type of animal, as well as a large amount of compassion. When I was a small child, I would always try to treat any sort of injured animal, whether it was an injured bird, a mouse or a domestic pet. This sometimes resulted in my own injury and a few trips to the doctor’s office, much to my mother’s dismay. But it was always worth it to me and I always ended up feeling worse for the injured animal than I did for my own injuries.

I have been working in the veterinary field for the last 12 years. I have been at VSH since June of 2004 and I feel honored to be a part of this establishment. I have learned tremendous amounts here and I continue to learn every day, which is a wonderful and sometimes rare thing in your job!

Sharla Wade

I have wanted to work with animals since I was a little girl. I didn’t know how I was going to do it; some days I thought that I would be an animal trainer, a veterinarian, or a zoo keeper; but I just knew that I would one day work with animals. As I got older I realized I wanted to work with dogs and cats as a small animal vet. When I was in high school a club was started in Fort Lauderdale, my hometown, called the Future Vets of Broward County.

I read about it in the newspaper and joined right away, excited that I was going to learn about veterinary medicine. The club led to my first job in an animal hospital as a kennel attendant. Once I was working in an animal hospital I realized that I wanted to be a nurse for animals. I thought that I could make a real difference by getting to take care of pets when they were sick as well as when they were healthy.