Welcome Dr. Kelsea Studer

Dr. Kelsea Studer has a history of treading new ground—from joining the first class of a new veterinary school, where she founded two clubs and an exotics rescue, to initiating research into blood clotting in rabbits, to following her veterinary interests even when they took a sharp turn. All of these experiences provided Studer with unique and well-rounded expertise as the newest member of the Emergency Medicine and Critical Care (ECC) team at Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals (FHSA) and assistant clinical professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

Studer grew up on a small hobby farm in Ohio with horses, chickens, dogs, cats, and peacocks. She participated in 4-H horse programs, conducted agility work with dogs, and volunteered as a kennel assistant throughout high school. “I always knew working with animals was going to be my career path,” she says.

At Miami University, Studer completed a dual major in environmental science and zoology while also working at veterinary hospitals and a mixed animal practice.

As part of the inaugural class at Lincoln Memorial University’s Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine in Tennessee, Studer started a number of clubs at the new institution and, in the process, found herself especially drawn to exotic animal medicine.

“I was interested in going to a new school to help influence how the school would be made and what the curriculum would look like,” says Studer. “Some of my interest in exotics was a fascination with their medicine. I’m really interested in comparative medicine—how the rabbit’s GI tract is like a horse’s GI tract—and how we can glean information from one species to the next. It’s not often built into the veterinary curriculum. Having representation at the school for zoological and exotic animals was a main goal of mine.”

Studer founded and was president of the Zoo Exotic Wildlife Avian/Aquatic Club and the Exotic Companions Animal Rescue. She and her fellow students treated shelter animals in labs, learning surgery through the spay/neuter program, for example, and Studer wanted to help exotics in the same way.

Garnering support from the university and Oxbow Animal Health, Studer started the rescue so that owners who could no longer care for their exotic pets had the option to surrender them to this new organization. She encouraged her classmates to foster animals until they could be adopted out and cited the benefits not only to the animals but also to the students—for instance, learning how to hold a rabbit, gaining familiarity with a bearded dragon, or taking care of a bird for an extended period of time—to better understand the animals and the owner experience. She fostered many of the exotic animals herself, from hamsters to a conure parrot.

Studer also founded the school’s first Running Club (she runs marathons, half-marathons, and ultra-marathons), volunteered with the Animal Adoption Foundation, and was secretary of both the Student Chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (SCAAEP) and American Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine Association (ACAVMA).

After earning her D.V.M., Studer completed a small animal rotating internship at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital (RBVH), a large private practice with a number of specialty services in New Jersey. At RBVH, she discovered a new passion for emergency medicine and critical care. She often volunteered within the intensive care unit (ICU) and spent extra hours learning from staff criticalists.

To further explore her interest in exotics, she followed up with a second internship in avian exotic and zoological medicine at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Studer initiated her first research project at OSU, evaluating methodologies to standardize viscoelastic coagulation analyzers (a test for clotting) in clinical practice with rabbits. She was the lead author of the study, published in the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation.

“Once I got to Oklahoma State, I was putting ECC and exotics together, and this study combined my two interests,” says Studer. “When doing these tests on clotting, you have to run them in a certain standardized way. This study helped to better clarify how variation in resting the samples influences or actually doesn’t influence these tests. Additionally, we have a big gap in our knowledge of rabbits, even though they’re the third most common pet in the United States.”

While at OSU, she found her career at a crossroads between exotic and critical care medicine. She reached out to her former colleagues on the ECC team at RBVH for advice. They encouraged her to return to the hospital in the critical care service to see if the field was a fit. Working as an emergency veterinarian at RBVH for two years, she knew she had found her calling and went on to become the hospital’s very first ECC resident and helped design the new residency program.

“In critical care medicine, I like thinking on my feet and approaching a situation creatively,” she says. “The most meaningful cases for me are the ones where a patient is so critically ill, and you get them through and emotionally get the owners through, too. I became very bonded with clients during that time. I still have every single card, picture, and gift that clients have given me. I always keep those and remember them.”

At RBVH, Studer appreciated the opportunity to practice high-level critical care medicine, especially treating animals with advanced machine ventilation and dialysis procedures. She continued to pull in exotic medicine throughout her residency, though more from a critical care and research angle.

“Within the exotics world, there’s so much of a gap of information. It’s exciting from a research perspective but difficult from a clinical perspective,” she says. Studer plans to help address those gaps through her research endeavors.

Teaching the interns at RBVH was especially rewarding for Studer.

“I’m at a point in my career where I can consistently do procedures like placing a nasogastric tube, but what’s exciting for me is seeing someone else do it for the first time,” she says. “I have had great mentors in critical care who have been pivotal in my career becoming a doctor. I want to do that for other people.”

Joining Cummings School has brought together all of her varied career interests—practicing gold standard medicine within FHSA’s extensive ECC service, with a high volume caseload, and in an environment that fosters research and teaching.

“A big part was that opportunity to teach; that’s the main priority for me,” says Studer. “At a veterinary school, you have it on so many levels—students, interns, residents, colleagues. You’ll teach things to them, and they’ll teach things to you. I don’t want to stop learning.”

While Studer is primarily working and teaching on the clinic floor within the ECC service, she plans to continue researching clotting tests in rabbits and other areas that combine exotics and emergency medicine, particularly best practices in treating nontraditional species within critical care.

Outside of work, Studer enjoys running, hiking, skiing, and paddleboarding. Her two dogs accompany her on many of these adventures and on road trips. “If you can do it outdoors, then I’m probably into it,” says Studer, who also has two cats.

Studer is thrilled to be joining the ECC team at FHSA.

“I feel like I’m meeting my heroes in the critical care service here,” Studer says, noting how well-known the FHSA criticalists are in the field. “It’s incredible to be working with them. I really appreciate how warm, welcoming, and excited everyone’s been for me to be here. I’m ready to jump in.”