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Previous Interns: Where are they now: You are welcome to e mail these people and find out about their experiences with us. The last intake (yearly positions) (2009)
She can be reached at spruceluce@hotmail.com Amy Williamson:
Amy was a She can be contacted on ajwilliamson86@hotmail.com
Karen Johnson:
Hazel Steven:
The last intake (seasonal positions) (2007-2008).
Australian Graduates:
Kristin Arnold: Kristin was one of first interns. She came from a practice in Mansfield and was a great asset to us. Kristin became a member of the Marriot family and moved from Mansfield to Benalla. She has a horse only practice that specialises in Clydesdales.
Maxine Brain: Max loves Standardbreds. Her husband trains them and she fixes them. She has recently started up her own practice for horses only at Kilmore. She is so popular that after only a few months she needed to hire someone to help with the workload. Now the practice has three veterinarians. Well done Max.
Graham Dougherty: Graham was born with a harness and sulky already attached. He demonstrated remarkable talents in the areas of Standardbred racing. He resided at Alabar Farms, without doubt the biggest Standardbred farm in Australasia for a year. Graham was appointed to the Racing Industry as a veterinarian in NSW before starting is own practice.
Richard Hill: Richard and Kate came and went fairly quickly as Kate missed England and Richard found out he was a father to be. A Sydney graduate with heaps of enthusiasm and talent, Richard went working in mixed practice in the UK while study for his Cert in Equine Practice. Four children later, Richard and Kate were showing no signs of returning to Australia. Richard joined the Delaware Veterinary Group in Somerset as a partner. It is with much sadness that we report that Richard succumbed to cancer. A terrible disease that he fought valiantly and with dignity and courage. We are better for having met and worked with Richard.
Christine Johnson: Chris was poached for a year from Perth. After that she went back there and continued to develop the Epsom Veterinary Clinic with Brian Hilbert. One day in the year 2000 she decided to ride across Australia, so she did and during the trek met and married the man of her dreams. Now she lives somewhere in Queensland.
Tim Lescun: After leaving us Tim went to Purdue for a surgical residency and then 4 years later became one of the youngest ever 'Board Certified Surgeons'. A few years ago we were able to entice Tim and his bride (Heidi) to move back here and join or ranks. Heidi is a trained anaesthetic technician so they made quite a package. More recently they decided to move back to the US. A disappointment for us but good news for Purdue University who is employing them both. Tim and Heidi may be contacted on tlescun@purdue.edu
 Charlie McCormack:
Charlie is a Queenslander with a rural background but not
much of a laid back style. For a down to earth country boy he sure can get
excited. Charlie loves all aspects of being an equine veterinarian but don't surprise
him with too many extra unannounced cases. Seriously though, Charlie developed into a solid, reliable veterinarian and we
asked him
to stay on and manage some of our ambulatory practice. After doing this for a
while he has decided to work with a friend on the 'Gold Coast'.
Paul O'Callaghan: A very well travelled young man. He spent a year with us then went and worked in England, Saudi and a host of other countries. When he finally stopped long enough to catch his breath he was offered a job with the VRC (Victoria Racing Club) as a veterinary stipendiary steward. A job he loves. Recently he was appointed the president of the Australian Horse Council. Wendy Perriam: Came to us from Geralton (western WA) and then went to Littleton Large Animal Clinic in Colorado as the first one of our rotating internships with institutions in the USA. Due to her talents and personality that programme worked well for a number of years. Wendy has concentrated on reproduction and after some time travelling has returned to Perth. Time does fly. To update Wendy's fortunes, would be to highlight a marriage, two babies and a partnership in a equine practice in Perth. Well done Wendy. You can contact her on weniki@iinet.net.au Rod Stewart: Rocket was a man with many talents. He could have chosen any field to work in. He eventually chose a residency in surgery at Washington State. After finishing a year he chose private practice in the US as the outlet for his talents as he waited for his much more intelligent bride (Erica) to be to finish her Ph.D. at Harvard. Now married they have moved to racetrack practice in New York.
Johnny Walker: What a character!! Johnny had a zest for life that kept us all moving. Johnny went on to work at Randwick Equine Centre in Sydney. He loves his job and relishes working with the Thoroughbred trainers such as the legendary Gai Waterhouse. Recently Johnny moved back to Victoria and now lives in Melbourne and works on the Peninsula where he does quite a lot for Lee Freedman. Bruce Young: Just to show you the diverse nature of previous interns here we have one in Bruce who went to Queensland and has become a veterinary steward in the Queensland Harness Racing industry. Bruce loves the challenges of his work and has been instrumental in introducing many common sense procedures to the industry. Foreign Graduates: Scott Alshwede: A visiting Intern from Rood and Riddle in KY, Scott was lots of fun. He worked and played hard and won our respect. He was the second of our rotating internships with partners in the USA. We have all been happy with the way it worked out. Rikke Munk Andersen: Now Rikke was a Danish national with a veterinary degree from Copenhagen. She has visited and worked for us for 3 years now. We love to see to come and hate to see her go. There isn't anything that she can't do, but beware do not get into the car with her. Contact her if you like. rikkema@hotmail.com Alan Clarke: Alan is a Irish veterinarian that came to us for a season's work. He looked after Roselands (later became Vinery) as a resident vet and did a great job. Recently he has become a father (together with with Grainne) to a young son named Raffi. Alan worked for us as the resident vet on Eliza Park Stud near Melbourne in 2003 and now is their resident veterinarian. Alan can be contacted on acvet90@hotmail.com
David Craig: Eldryudd Davies: EJ is so much easier to say than Eldryudd. She came from Liphook Equine Hospital in the UK. She only worked with us for 6 months but was loads of fun and very talented. She loved life and spent hours trying to convince us all to leave work to water ski or have a night out. Currently she is working (and sunning herself) somewhere in WA (actually I have no idea where she is now).
Carolyn Duddy: Carolyn came to us from Ireland by way of Jerry's Plains. Caza can be seen under the veterinarian section.
Scott Gibbs: Scott came from Vinery (USA). He had a great time here and Graham Dougherty and he became good friends. We haven't heard from Scott for a while now but know that he will be doing well as he had lots of admirers over here.
Aaron Hodder: Aaron
came to us from NZ via
a job with Jack Easley in Kentucky. Aaron demonstrated a remarkable intelligence
and ability to apply himself to the program. The tougher it got the better he
became. We would have liked him to have stayed on or done a residency but alas a
young South African girl has his attention and we think his next job will over
there. Aaron has completed a residency at the University of California at Davis. Who knows perhaps we will see him come back here one day. Contact him on aaronhodder@hotmail.com
Seamus Hoey: Tall and quiet Seamus is another of the Irish contingent. Reckon there must be another potato famine we weren't told about. They are all over here. With us he has learnt to surf and run (no pictures to prove it mind you although he beat Max by 5 minutes in a fun run a while ago- probably due to the disparity in leg size I reckon). Seamus has a strong interest in diagnostic imaging and plans to apply for a training position in that area. As the tallest and longest serving of the 2008 interns, Seamus is the go to man for any problems (veterinary) the other interns may be having. He is calm and confident and can always be relied on to provide good accurate advice. Try Seamus on seamushoey@gmail.com
Hahn Kingma: A Dutchman and one of the nicest persons you would ever be lucky to meet. Nothing was too much trouble for Hahn. He worked as hard as anyone ever has and still managed to keep everything in perspective. We all miss Hahn and expect and hope that one day he will spend another breeding season with us. Monique Kuypers: Monique was a seasonal intern from Belgium. She was lots of fun and together with Jami Whiting and Jane McNally spent hours and hours palpating and scanning mares for our frozen semen program. We don't have a current address. Jane McNally: Jane came by way of the Irish National Stud. She had done two seasons there and was looking for a change. She wasn't big but had loads of talent and dedication. She was greatly missed when she went back to Ireland. Recently we heard a whisper that she was back in Australia and was looking to settle down with a young man that breeds quite a few horses himself.
Olivia Sheerin: Was not amused at being labelled 'the big O' when first arriving but cast aside her worries and became a funny and reasonably hard working intern that didn't take life to seriously until she met Ivan and the 'green card' issue surfaced. She is back in Australia now and is working at her private practice that deals in horses around Toolern Vale (near Melbourne). It was possible to reach her at olivia_s@hotmail.com
Jami Whiting: Jami came from California on our exchange internship program and never once drew breath. She was much fun to have around the hospital and her keen sense of humour always shone out no matter how many hours she had to work in a row. From us she went to Hagyard, Davidson and McGee in Lexington, Kentucky and then was a offered a job with Sheikh Mohamed's horses in Dubai JLWDubai@aol.com. Michael Whiteford:
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Hanna Bowen: 
Fiona Anderson: Fiona
was born in Traralgon (East Gippsland). She is a Melbourne graduate of
exceptional ability. She was in a veterinary practice at Cohuna with a friend
of ours who suggested we take a close look at her for an internship. He was
right and we are lucky enough to have had her for the 2004 breeding season.
Fiona currently a Resident in Medicine at Murdoch University in WA and just passed her American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine exams. A fantastic feat..
Jane Axon: After leaving us Jane went to Pennsylvania (New
Bolton Center) to work as a Medicine Resident. After completing her three years
there, Jane now works each breeding season with the Scone Veterinary Clinic and
is in charge of their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Jane is an excellent example
of what hard work and dedication can achieve.
Rebekah Barkla: Bec
is a Melbourne University graduate. She came to us as student and we so
impressed we asked to her to stay on for an internship. She started last summer
so is the only current intern with any idea what is just around the
corner. Just about single handed, she managed the intern responsibilities
around the hospital during the non breeding season. She is a great personality
and a happy person and presently is working Bendigo.
Anushka Chaku is a
bright young spark that came as a recent graduate a few weeks ago from Murdoch
University in WA. She was born in Adelaide moved to Broome, Kalgoolie and
finally back to Perth. All part of her dad being a geologist. She was sent to
Beglium as an exchange student when she was 17. We think it was really a
finishing school of sorts. She has travelled to more places than most us have
had hot meals. She loves to horses and salsa dancing. She moved back to
Western Australia to work with Chris Gales and the team in Perth. Currently she is looking to obtain a surgery Residency.
Darien Feary: DJ has been an exceptional intern. Able to cope
with any challenges thrown at her, she seemed to love pressure. She could work
all night and then still smile all the next day. She has completed a residency at CSU (Colorado State University)
in medicine and took a job in California at the Veterinary School in
Davis. There she
is stayed for and completed teaching and training assignments in emergency and critical care. We talked he into coming back for a few months when we suddenly needed a medicine clinician, but then a job at Sydney University beckoned her back to her friends and family. DJ is currently on maternity leave from Sydney University. Contact her
at 
Laura
Fennell: A Kiewa (northern Victoria) farm girl that went to Sydney
University. She is so smart that she graduated with 1st class honours (not seen
around here before I can tell you). Since completing her internship
she went to Scotland to work in a large practice. Came back and worked for us
for the breeding season in 2005 and 2006 and now has just finished a three year Residency in
Equine Medicine with Kate Savage at Melbourne University.
Max Hall: Max comes from Brisbane in Queensland. He visited as a student in 2007. His enthusiasm and confidence earned him a one year position here. He is also very motivated and eager to learn. Max is definitely going to be a surgeon one day. Outside work Max is a fitness fanatic. Moderation is not in
his vocabulary and as a result he is a ball of muscle (perhaps that's where missing steroids are? but then again Max knows what they do to testicle size). Max can be contacted on 
Natasha Hanovessian: Dr. Tash is from the North Shore of Sydney. She spent her time as a student working at one of its best small animal practices as a nurse.
James Hart: James is another Kiwi. You would think that we would have learned
by now? James was quite clever (even if it did take us a few years to recognise
it) and finished here an extremely competent anaesthetist as well as excelling
in other disciplines. His wit and enthusiasm will be missed by all. James went
to Sydney University as an horse surgery
resident which is a great feather in his cap. Following this he went to Guelph and now is working at Oklahoma State University..
Imogen Johns: Im wears
the mantle as our longest serving intern. She came to us in 1999 and
never really left until 2001. We kept asking her to stay. Imogen accepted a
Residency at the New Bolton Centre and now is at the Royal Veterinary College in London. We will miss her and her humour. Will
eagerly await her return for this years Melbourne Cup just to see what she wear.
Do you need to speak to her about
our program? Try 
Richard Lam: Richard
is a Sydney graduate (2004) and we missed him immensely when he left (late
2005). He left a large hole, difficult to fill. A good man, reliable and
efficient, he also delivered a wealth of knowledge in the IT department (much of
which is another foreign language to Angus and Jim). He was responsible for organising
the new digital radiography system and images saved from the new ultrasound
systems. Apart from all that he is an excellent clinician.
Jennifer Lugton: Jen arrived like a breath of fresh air. Jen is from Dural in New South Wales. Jen was a student with us in late 2007. She worked hard and we liked her so much she came back as an intern. Jen is the excitable one of the intern group. She is
Kylie Tiller: What
a great acquisition she turned out to be. Born and bred in Euroa and then
relocated with husband Stuart to Sydney for a few years of small animal work, when
she started here she just shone. He ability to understand and interact with
clients was a lesson to us all. Most of the letters up on the notice
board during the time she was here were to thank Kylie for caring so much. Kylie
left for and became a partner in the Main Ridge Veterinary Clinic on the Mornington Peninsula. 
Mette Christensen: Mette
(pronounced Metta) was a foreign student visiting from Denmark in 2006. We
thought we worked her and Janine so much they wouldn't be back. Great news for
us when they applied to work in 2007 at the hospital. Talented and fun she was a
welcome addition to the team. All we knew about about the Danes' are that they
like to ride and are mostly fearless. Now we know they are able to work hard and have great character.
Dr. David Craig graduated from the 
Padhraic
Doran: I still can't spell his name. We called him Poor Rick which was phonetically
correct but as usual with the Irish it bore no relation to the spelling. Padhraic
was nice guy. Talented and helpful. He withstood the rigours of the internship
and always smiled and got on with it. He was a seasonal intern that only was
with us for 6 months. Never see anyone try so hard with the girls though.
Kirsty Gallagher: Kirsty was with us for 5 months before I understood anything she said. He accent was supposedly from Scotland but if you didn't know that it could have been any language at all. Kirsty was fun and vivacious and a great intern with a good work (and party) ethic as well. She loves being down under
and has taken a job in Western Australia.
Simon Hennesey: 
Lisa Hinder:
Lisa is a real character. She sure can talk (at least we can tell where she is).
She's lots of fun to be around and is always in a good mood (perhaps she is on
some kind of drug we don't know about). She is a Florida graduate and the only
reason we knew about her was through Rob Franklin (an internal medicine
specialist here). Rob had worked with her in Florida and said she was a 'must
have' for the programme. She is independent, adaptable and enthusiastic for her
work. She is close to leaving and that will be a sad day for all of us.
Imogen (alias Jennie) Henderson:
Jen arrived from the UK as part of the John Newcombe research team. Jen had
worked with John as a student and he was most complimentary and strongly recommended
that we employ her. He wasn't wrong and we were all very sad when it was her
time to go. Jen has recently completed a Residency in Equine Medicine at Edinburgh. She currently works with Meta Osborne in Ireland.
Yuji Inoue: Yuji, is a Japanese graduate in veterinary science. He
worked for Hidaka Horse Breeders Association in Hokkaido before coming out here to do the internship.
Yuji is in
a unique position of being able to converse easily with both Stud Masters here
and in Japan. We hope that he will use this ability to set up some form of
continual cross cultural exchange of ideas and work. Perhaps there will be some
Japanese investment in our breeding industry right here?
Charlie Pinkham: We were only lucky enough to have Charlie for one season. He came and went in a flash but he did impress us (and the girls). The associated picture may suggest otherwise (after
many whiskies at the famous annual cattle muster's at Angus's) as Charlie was quite taken the local legend cowboy Tom Herring (Charlie pictured on the right). He is an impressive veterinarian and will be expected to excel wherever he goes.
Reinder Schurrmanns is
Dutch graduate. Reinder is quiet and relaxed. He is tall and well loved by all
the girls. Where ever he goes there is a team of helpful (perhaps hopeful?)
young women. Reinder has shown us that there is no need to have English as a
first language if you have intelligence and aptitude. He has applied for a
surgical residency in Switzerland. We strongly support him and look forward to
hearing of his endeavours when he leaves us in a few months time.
Jannie Sorensen: Jannie
(pronounced Yannie) graduated from
veterinary school in Copenhagen and came here to get a concentrated experience in
all aspects of horses. She likes to ride but won't fly in small planes. The more
we are getting to know the foreign veterinarians the happier we are to have all
of them over here. They work hard, are cheerful and don't complain about how
hard it is. Jannie's main interest is in reproduction. She loved it so much that she was going to come back and work in the reproduction department next season (2008), however to the chagrin of most of the guys she met over here, we don't think she will be back because she is married and pregnant already.
Sonia Tarrida Del Marol Figuerora: Sonia was a Spanish veterinarian in search of whatever life would
bring. She visited and worked with us on and off for 4 years. Finally, she
decided that apart from veterinary medicine that being a mother was a good move
for her and her family. We wonder how she is doing and hope she is well. She is pictured here with Angus in France a while ago (judging by the colour of Angus's hair)
Mike Tweedie: Mike is an Cambridge graduate with an Irish upbringing.
He is a former star rugby player (which has made him useful around the surgery area) and
posses a mild non aggressive manner around people and horses. Apparently I was
the only person not to notice that his interest in the breeding efficiency
project had nothing to do with horses and he has married our favourite research assistant Lara. Mike has his own veterinary practice named Kensington Equine Practice. Rumour is that that he is very well liked by
the trainers and is happily settled in Melbourne now.
Martin Vidal: Martin is of German origin but educated in the UK.
Martin excelled in our environment and quickly settled in and made friends with his clients
(especially the female portion), so was asked to stay on for another year. This
worked in well and helped give him time to apply for and be offered a residency
in surgery. So, it was of to Louisiana State University where he completed a PhD and Residency and now to a faculty position at University of California at Davis. We know he will do well
and be a god emissary for us and you can guess from the picture at right that he
needs the practice. You better 
Mike is one of our Scottish imports. Graduating with honours from the