VMX 2024 Speakers
VMX features hundreds of the brightest, most compelling speakers in the veterinary profession from all over the world.
Every year, we receive rave reviews about our speakers. You can count on them to share their stories, impart their wisdom and inspire you as you earn veterinary continuing education credit hours and much more.
Featured Speakers
Clara Goh, BVSc, MS, DACVS (SA)
VMX 2023 Small Animal Speaker of the Year
Dr. Goh grew up in Sydney Australia, and earned her veterinary degree at Sydney University before coming to the US. She completed her post-graduate specialty training (rotating internship, surgical residency, and surgical oncology fellowship) at Colorado State University, where she currently holds a faculty position in small animal orthopedic surgery. Her clinical and research interests include cruciate disease, hip dysplasia, and minimally invasive surgery (arthroscopy). Dr Goh has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences throughout the US, supporting continuing education of veterinarians from around the world.
Topics: Surgery, Orthopedics

Darren Berger, DVM, DACVD
Dr. Darren Berger is a Tenured Associate Professor of Dermatology at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Prior to completing a dermatology residency and obtaining Diplomate status in the College of Veterinary Dermatology, he worked as a general practitioner in Des Moines, IA. He has authored multiple journal articles, textbook chapters and is the author and editor of Moriello’s Small Animal Dermatology. His research interests include clinical pharmacology, specifically topical therapy and compounding in veterinary medicine.
Topics: Small Animal and Equine, Dermatology

Eric Klaphake, DVM, DACZM
VMX 2023 Exotics Speaker of the Year
Eric was born and raised in Nebraska, was a 1997 graduate of Kansas State University, and worked 12 years exotic/small animal private practice and various zoo relief work, split up by a three year residency at University of Tennessee in Avian and Zoological Medicine and Surgery. Eric has been the veterinarian at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs since 2010. He has enjoyed chasing/studying wolverines, American martens, pika, Cape vultures, and various other birds/reptiles/amphibians in the wild. In his spare time, he likes trail running, birding, and spending time with his son Xavier.
Topics: Exotics, Anesthesia, Analgesia/Pain Management, Geriatric Medicine

Jen Flower, DVM, Dipl. ACZM
Dr. Jen Flower graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and completed a 2 year specialty internship in Aquatic Animal Medicine and Research at Mystic Aquarium. After her internship she completed a 3 year residency program through the Illinois Zoological and Aquatic Animal Residency Program, a combined program with Shedd Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, and the University of Illinois Zoological Medicine Service. During her residency she also obtained a Master’s of Science degree focused on sea turtle conservation medicine. After her residency Dr. Flower became a boarded specialist in zoological and aquatic animal medicine with the American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM) and is currently a Clinical Veterinarian for Disney's Animals, Science, and Environment.
Topics: Aquatics, Professional Development, Rehabilitation

Jen Schleining, DVM, MS
VMX 2023 Farm Animal Speaker of the Year
Bio: Dr. Jennifer Schleining is a clinical professor of large animal surgery and interim department head of Large Animal Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from South Dakota State University and her DVM from Iowa State University. Prior to completing a large animal surgical residency and master’s program in Veterinary Clinical Science at Iowa State University, she completed an equine internship in Arizona, was an associate veterinarian in rural mixed animal practice in central South Dakota, and was a clinical fellow at Oregon State University. She spent 15 years on the faculty of Iowa State University before joining Texas A&M University in 2018. Her interests include veterinary medical education, advancing surgical procedures and knowledge in large animals, and streamlining the schedules of her four children and veterinary classmate and husband, Frank. She’s still working on the streamlining part.
Topics: Farm Animals

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA
VMX 2023 Practice Management Speaker of the Year
Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, is the chief veterinary officer at Fetch, ACVC and dvm360®, the country’s largest veterinary multimedia company. He received his DVM degree from Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and his MBA degree from Aspen University. Christman has been in private practice and shelter medicine for 18 years and is the proud dog dad to 4 dachshunds. He has coauthored a book on dogs with disabilities. Dr. Christman is a national speaker on practice management, social media and rehabilitation. He has been featured in multiple publications and on various talk and radio shows throughout the country. With over 1 million followers on tik tok and 56,000 followers on Instagram, Dr. Christman loves to engage with fellow pet parents and veterinary professionals across all social media platforms. He believe no one should be deprived of the incredible human-animal bond.
Topics: Practice Management, Toxicology, General Practice

Monique Feyrecilde, LVT, VTS (Behavior)
VMX 2023 Nurse/Technician Speaker of the Year Behavior
Monique Feyrecilde works full-time in small animal private practice, and also owns a consulting business called Teaching Animals. She is a technician specialist in behavior, and a Past President of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians. Author of the textbook Cooperative Veterinary Care, numerous other textbook chapters and articles, multiple Fear Free Educational Modules, and much more, Monique strives to provide practical solutions attendees can implement for immediate success. Monique was a 2023 VMX Speaker of the Year.
Topics: Nurse/Technician, Behavior

Esther Klok, CVT
Esther Klok has 24 years of experience as a veterinary technician. She works in a mixed practice that handles both small animals and horses. Most of the time she can be found working in the back, but she also enjoys the front desk and has convinced her boss she really needs to be there one day a week. She has also just started her own company, Improve on the Move. She loves giving lectures, teaching, organizing conventions, and writing and providing photos for magazines. And, because she obviously needs to do something with any leftover time, Esther and her boyfriend travel throughout Europe to compete for the Dutch team in single horse carriage driving.
Topics: Practice Management, Nurse/Technichian, Fear Free

Niccole Bruno, DVM
Niccole Bruno, DVM is the CEO & Founder of blend, a veterinary hospital certification program in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). A graduate of Cornell, Dr Bruno has been practicing small animal medicine and surgery for over 16 years in NYC and Houston. For the last 8 years she has served in leadership roles and has been intentional about cultivating diverse hospital environments and fostering inclusion and belonging. Dr Bruno believes that to improve diversity within vetmed pipeline development is critical but it is equally important to ensure that hospital environments have a healthy culture for all to thrive. She created blend to train veterinary professionals and teams together how to BLEND: Build relationships, Lead with empathy, Educate and create equity in practice, Navigate the unknown together and Diversify veterinary medicine. BLEND certified hospitals have the opportunity to provide workplaces that employees will want to come to work and stay AND will be pillars in the communities for pipeline development, community engagement and access to veterinary care
Topics: Professional Development
