Whitesboro Veterinarian named Equine Practitioner of the Year

WHITESBORO, Texas (KXII) - The Texas Veterinarian Medical Association VMA named Dr. Bridget Heilsberg its Equine Practitioner of the Year.

Dr. Heilsberg started in equine at 14 years old. Throughout her life, she worked her way up. She eventually opened her own practice in Whitesboro, Crown 3 Veterinary Services, six years ago.

“I definitely was born as someone who wanted to be a horse vet,” Heilsberg said.

Life-changing is how Veterinarian Assistant Katrina Riley describes working for Dr. Heilsberg.

“She goes out of her way and bends over backward for people and her for patients and it’s admirable,” Riley said.

She said Dr. Heilsbergs mission to make an impact in the industry sets her apart from the rest.

“The old way of equine practices really isn’t sustainable and that’s why we’re losing talent,” Heilsberg said.

Dr. Heilsberg said the physical labor the job requires, long hours and low salaries combined with high student debt have led to an abundance of burnout in the field. However, she is aiming to change that.

“I had a lot of people, including some really close mentors, tell me I couldn’t do it and this wasn’t the way it was done,” Heilsberg said.

Riley said equine has an expectation that veterinarians will work independently, this is something not seen in small animal practices. However, at Crown 3 there is a team of ten, making the workload more manageable for everyone.

“So she utilizes every single one of her staff members to the best of their abilities,” Riley said.

Regardless of criticism, Dr. Heilsberg has stayed committed to her goal.

“Being one of the people that’s being recognized for changing the way we’re doing things and pushing the profession forward, I the that’s really the best part,” Heilsberg said.

Riley said it was about time Dr. Heilsberg was recognized for her accomplishments.

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