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Meet Dr Tegan Stephens (She/Her)
BVSc (merit) MANZCVS (unusual pets)
Thanks to a childhood growing up surrounded by the Australian bush and the jungles of Borneo, Dr Tegan has always been fascinated by reptiles and other unusual animals. In her journey to become an exotics vet, she also discovered a deep love of rabbits and other small mammals and the fun and fascination that comes with birds.
This all led her to sit for her memberships in Unusual Pet Medicine and Surgery with the Australian Vet College in 2013, becoming one of the first vets in NSW to hold this qualification.
Dr Tegan is a founding member of the Unusual Pet Medicine Chapter in the College and has been a committee member of the Unusual Pet and Avian Vet special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association for the majority of her working life and regularly presents at their conferences.
Dr Tegan’s particular interests include rabbit ear and dental surgery, soft tissue surgery, ultrasonography, reptile medicine, behaviour, enrichment, and fish and amphibian medicine.
Tegan has worked at this hospital in various positions since her first year of vet school in 2005 and has been the veterinary manager and superintendent since 2021. She is immensely proud of the hospital and its amazing team and is excited for the future ahead.
Hobbies and Interest
Having two young children doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies, but Tegan does love travelling, reading (particularly sci-fi and fantasy), cross-stitch embroidery, karaoke nights with the team from work, and escaping to the beaches of the NSW central coast as often as possible.
Owned Pets
While Tegan has previously owned dogs, birds, and snakes and had a habit of collecting many small creatures as a child, much to her parent’s chagrin, she now has a love of a very cuddly Groodle called Noodle and the tolerance of a 3-legged blue-tongue lizard named Arnie.
Publications
Ziang Z, Liu Y, Stephens T, and Eggleton B.J. Photonic Radar for Contactless Vital Sign Detection. Nature Photonics, 17(2023)
Chpt 19. Diseases of the Cardiovascular System, and Chpt 26. Diseases of the Organs of the Special Senses, in Reptile Medicine and Surgery in Clinical Practice. 2018.
