See who's who at Elwood Vet

Scroll down to find out a little bit about us.

Deborah graduated from Melbourne Uni vet school in 1994. She worked around Melbourne for a while then headed off overseas, eventually owning her own practice in Hong Kong.

Returning to Melbourne with a family in tow, Deborah started working at the Southern Animal Emergency Centre (where she met Raquel). Enjoying the pace of emergency work, Deborah ended up working at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital.

In 2017, Deborah, Raquel and Craig teamed up and bought Elwood and Albert Park Vets and has worked tirelessly to create great local practices that are all about providing high quality, affordable care.

Sonia graduated from Melbourne Uni 15 years ago, and went straight into a big, busy Melbourne private practice. Seven years later, she felt a pull to reconnect with her Indian roots and moved to the foothills of the Himalayas (not far from the home of the Dalia Lama). There she worked with Dharamsala Animal Rescue, treating dogs, cats and anything else that needed help.

With her passion for veterinary medicine, surgery and all things cats and dogs reignited, she returned to Australia (during the pandemic!) and started working as a locum vet – experiencing different practice approaches all over the country.

The first time Sonia worked with us, we knew she was a great fit for our team and our philosophy of practice. And clients wanted to see her again … so we subtly (and not so subtly) convincing her to stay. We’re delighted to have Sonia’s expertise, warmth and dedicated care as a cornerstone of our practice.

Craig graduated from University of Queensland in 2001. He subsequently did a surgical internship at Melbourne University (cementing his love of complex surgery) and then opened Port Phillip Animal Hospital with his wife Dr Bec Goode (the greyhound vet).

Craig is our orthopaedic expert and does pretty much all of the bone and joint surgery.

We’re feeling so very pleased with ourselves after luring Hollie over from Adelaide to join our team.

Despite being the newest member of Elwood Vet, Hollie has fitted in so ridiculously well, it’s like she’s been with us forever. She’s both super capable and super lovely. We’ve kicked some serious staffing goals with finding Hollie.

Hollie graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2019 and has been working in general practice since. Doing placements in Australian and North American specialist practice sparked her interest in clinical pathology. Hollie is also keen on soft tissue surgery (and is far more skilled than any of us could have imagined for her young age!).

Raquel graduated from the University of Queensland in 1996 and headed off to the UK soon after. There she worked for 6 years and developed a taste for emergency medicine (despite the 24-hour shifts!) Combining a love of learning and travel, Raquel completed multiple post-grad studies across the UK and other European countries in internal medicine, cytology, radiology, ultrasound and cardiology. She was admitted as a Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in emergency medicine and critical care in 2005.

Since buying a tiny ‘farm’ in South Gippsland, Raquel has discovered the joy of chickens. On the weekends you’ll find her digging in the garden and chatting to Joan and the other hens as they wait for a juicy worm.