Meet Our Staff
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Medical Director
Dr. Amanda Dykstra, DVM, MPH, DABVP Dr. Dykstra grew up in rural area and and served in the Army prior to graduating from veterinary school in 2003. She completed a Fellowship in Shelter Medicine at UC Davis, earned a Masters in Public Health at the University of Tennessee, and is a board certified specialist in shelter medicine practice. Dr. D moved to Tennessee in 2014 to teach at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, where she became increasingly aware of the problems associated with the lack of access to affordable, high quality veterinary care in East Tennessee. The Gentle Doctor is the product of two years of work and research into finding a way to bring affordable care to more Tennessee families. Dr. Dykstra works hard to help her patients while at the clinic, but is also protective of her time with her three children, two dogs and two clinic cats so she does not see emergency appointments. She is a bit of perfectionist and has OCD, but everyone at the clinic puts up with it because we like our jobs. |
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Our Clinic Staff
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Angela - Office Manager - Angela is truly a wonderful human being and keeps this place running smoothly so we avoid barbing her with silly jokes and appreciate it when people are nice to her in general. Her granddaughter is a thing of perfection, and Angela is often with her when not keeping us all out of trouble.
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Ace -Ace left us in 2025 to start veterinary school at the University of Tennessee. She is intelligent and well-liked and is Dr. D's "right hand". If she would stop stealing pens, we would probably really miss her when she leaves for veterinary school.
Update: Ace started veterinary school but loves us so much she still comes back for some weekends. |
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Alyssa - Alyssa is a part time assistant that is often away for college but helps us out when she's in town. You'll often see her about with her casual college student demeanor. She's a hard worker and helps us out a lot on her breaks so we let her casual attire slide.
Tiny Cat - Tiny is the real boss around this place and enjoys relaxing in the middle of the floor to force people to walk around her, making square holes in the blinds so she can casually gaze outside, and opening drawers so she can steal treats. She also occasionally finds it entertaining to gently place cotton swabs all about the building while the humans are away. She enjoys a good stretch and will occasionally allow a belly rub.
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Hannah - Hannah has a degree in Animal Science from the University of Tennessee and has adapted incredibly well into our little clinic. She is native to the area so Dr. D allows her to be on "Tennessee time" and doesn't say anything when she's a few minutes late. She is great with handling scared or anxious pets and is working to hone all of her technician skills.
Arianna - Ari is a pre-vet student at the University of Tennessee but is nearly done with college so she recently joined us full time so she can learn everything she can before starting veterinary school. She's known for helping with all the tasks no one else wants to do do (with a smile on her face) and may be the nicest human Tiny Cat knows.
Snoop Cat-Snoop is an ornery Scottish Curl mix that found her way into our clinic and our hearts rather by accident. She enjoys getting fur on surgery towels that have been recently washed so she can watch us wash them again, hiding around corners and scaring people, rubbing against every human wearing black so they can wear her fur, and just generally being a bad cat. But.........she is extremely loved and spoiled in every way. |
The Gentle Doctor of East Tennessee
3524 Neal Drive
Knoxville, TN 37918
(865) 377-3236
[email protected]
3524 Neal Drive
Knoxville, TN 37918
(865) 377-3236
[email protected]
