The Tender Heart Veterinary Care Staff

Jen is the owner of Tender Heart Veterinary Care and is a graduate of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She performed her clinical training at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Ubana. A member of the Veterinary Laser Society, Dr. Wood has had additional training in laser surgery and has been performing laser surgery on small animals for over five years. Her special interests include but are not limited to preventative medicine, dentistry, dermatology, laser surgery, and challenging cases in general. Outside of the veterinary field, Dr. Wood enjoys riding and showing her Morgan horse "Junior", and spending time with her cats "Mitchell" and "Otto" and her dogs "Roxie", "Sparky", and "Pedro". She also enjoys swimming, hiking, scrapbooking, and, we can't forget, spending time with her husband Andrew.

Karen, pictured with her dogs "Maggie" and "Rudy", has worked with animals for over twenty-five years. As a young child, she would bring butterflies, frogs and birds to a local veterinarian because they needed care, and she remembers that the doctor always took the time to help these little ones. Remembering his compassion as she grew older, Karen began working for the same veterinarian as a kennel assistant. She eventually became a technician in his clinic, working there for 16 years. After leaving this clinic, Karen took a position as Manager/Medical Advisor at a local animal shelter where she worked for 9 years, caring for animals as they awaited adoption. Now back in the veterinary field, she is enjoying what she views as a rewarding career.

Patsy has been a veterinary technician for 15 years and is also a certified dental technician. Patsy, her husband Craig and son Dylan, share their home with their own 4 dogs and 12 cats (many of whom were adopted from clinics where Patsy has worked), as well as 2 foster dogs and 2 bunnies. Patsy brings her enthusiasm and love of animals to her work here at Tender Heart. As a busy mom to Dylan and the pets, she still finds time to ride her Morgan horse, "Lulu", pictured here with Patsy and Dylan.

After receiving a degree in Fine Art, Carol Crawford first started working with animals at a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm. From there she entered the small animal veterinary field and has been in the field a total of 16 years. Carol started working here at Tender Heart in July 2005, shortly after the opening of the clinic. Here she rejoined Dr. Wood, Dr. Byrnes, and Patsy, all of whom she had worked with in the past. Carol spends most of her free time enjoying her passion - horses. She currently shares space with her adopted family of 3 dogs and 4 cats.

Cherie Lewis joined the staff of Tender Heart Veterinary Care in June 2007. She is a graduate of Becker Jr. College with an Associate's Degree in Veterinary Technology. Prior to Tender Heart, Cherie worked for veterinarians in both Westford and Gardner, MA, with a number of the other Tender Heart employees. She is married with two grown children, and has four-legged "children" still living at home: her dog "Biba", cats "Eddie", "Dave", and "Grace", a guinea pig named "Peanut", and an occasional foster kitten. In her spare time Cherie enjoys spending time with her family and friends travelling, walking, and knitting and quilting.

Cathy is a 1996 graduate of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. She has been practicing small animal medicine for ten years, the last five in small animal emergency and critical care medicine in Acton, MA. Her career interests include canine and feline preventative medicine, nutritional management of disease, and ferret preventative medicine. Pictured with Dr. Byrnes is her dog "Ravenne", a Newfoundland who loves car rides and visiting with all the animals and people who come to the hospital.

Martha Scott has been on the Tender Heart staff since summer 2006, and enjoys working with her colleagues, who share her same compassion for animals. She feels that our doctors always take that extra step, and feels that encourages her to do the same. Martha has four furry "children", 2 dogs and 2 cats. She attended Becker College's Animal Care program and has worked in the veterinary field for over ten years. Martha has loved animals all her life and believes that a house without a furry friend is an empty home.

Pictured with her dogs "Autumn" and "Tula", Pam is the receptionist/office manager at Tender Heart Veterinary Care. A graduate of Lowell State College, Pam is a late-comer to the veterinary field, having had careers in music education and printing/typesetting for most of her working life. She and her husband Ernie sold their Westford print business in 2001, at which time she went to work for her pets' veterinarian and met Dr. Wood, an associate in the practice. After working there for 3 years, Pam made the decision to join Dr. Wood in her new venture. Pam and Ernie share their home (and bed!) not only with the dogs, but with 4 cats: "Hattie", a Lowell Humane Society adoptee, "Stripes", adopted from the Westford Clinic after his original owners relinquished him, and "Anise" and "Aidan", a mother and son fostered (with 4 other kittens) through Tender Heart last summer.

Meghan O'Rourke is a senior at Becker College in their pre-vet program. She has already graduated from Becker's associate degree program in Veterinary Technology, and recently took the national board exam. Meg has been working in veterinary clinics since she was 13, and as a tech since 1997 while completing her high school education. As part of her externship program through Becker, Meg has been working in the Medical Center at the New England Aquarium with exotic animalsfrom anacondas to penguins. She has been working part-time at Tender Heart throughout the summer, and we are happy that she's planning to stay with us once school begins.