Dr. Elaine Y. Kuo, DVM, MS, CVA
Veterinarian
Dr. Kuo received her DVM degree from National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. After she immigrated to the United States, she completed the veterinary clinical rotation year in Louisiana State University to fulfill the requirement of PAVE (Program for the Assessment of Veterinary Education Equivalence). She also studied the Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine under TCVM pioneer Dr. Huisheng Xie at the Chi Institute in Reddick, Florida, where she achieved certification in veterinary acupuncture. She currently holds veterinary license in both New Jersey and New York.
Dr. Kuo has practiced in many veterinary clinics in NJ/NY area, before establishing Riverdale Integrative Veterinary Care. Now she brings her unique style of combining conventional and holistic, complementary veterinary medicine to northern New Jersey.
Dr. Kuo loves classical music, cooking, gardening and hiking. She spends most of her free time with her husband Jie, two energetic boys, two German Shepherd boys Martin and Murphy, the Bearded Dragon Spiky and the Goldfish Goldie.
Certifications
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist
Fear Free Certified Professional
Experience
The Seeing Eye, Morristown, NJ – Nonprofit Organization, veterinarian
Branchburg Animal Hospital, Branchburg, NJ – Private Practice, veterinarian
Armory Dog and Cat Hospital, Bronx, NY – Private Practice, veterinarian
Oakland Animal Hospital, Oakland, NJ – Private Practice, veterinarian
Animal Clinics of Bayonne, Bayonne, NJ – Private Practice, veterinarian
Veterinarian
Newark Community Healthy
Pet Clinic, Newark, NJ –Private Practice, Volunteer
Benfield Pet Hospital, East Hanover, NJ – Corporate, extern
Animal Medical Center, New York, NY – Referral Center, extern
Oradell Animal Hospital, Paramus, NJ – Referral Center, extern
Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, Tinton Falls, NJ – Referral Center, extern
Louisiana State University Veterinary
Teaching Hospital, Baton Rouge
Dr. Beth Hirsch, DVM, CVA, AVCA
Associate Veterinarian
Dr. Beth Hirsch is a veterinarian certified in animal chiropractic (AVCA) and acupuncture (CVA) who is very passionate about offering holistic treatment options for her patients. She is also a Fear Free Certified professional.
Dr. Hirsch aims to discover and address the root problems of disease and offer individualized holistically focused patient care. After graduation from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, she pursued equine veterinary medicine for the first 11 years of her veterinary career, working mainly with horses and alpacas. Her passion for holistic medicine led to a change towards focus solely on holistic veterinary medicine for dogs and cats, with an emphasis on hands-on chiropractic care.
Dr. Hirsch has a Bachelor of Medicine degree in Equine Science/Pre-veterinary Medicine from Otterbein College, Ohio. Graduated veterinary school at Ohio State University in 2008. Completed a 1 year internship at a lameness/sports horse practice and finished her certification in acupuncture at the Chi Institute in 2009. She became certified in AVCA chiropractic adjustment in 2015. She has pursued some Fear Free training as she aims to try to minimize stress for her patients. She embraces learning professionally and recently became Reiki Level 1 certified.
Dr. Hirsch enjoys working with clients on creating a management plan to optimize health and wellness through an individualized holistic approach.
Dr. Hirsch resides in New Jersey with her husband Ray and three fluffy therapists - their Ragdoll cats, Reuben, Wallace and Wilbur. Saltwater reef-keeping is a hobby that she admits her husband does the bulk of the work for, but she really loves as well. She enjoys knitting, needle felting, and numerous other creative outlets when she finds time outside of work, and especially enjoys exploring learning about metaphysical aspects of crystals.
Dr. Jenn Bornkamp
Relief Veterinarian
Dr. Jenn Bornkamp is a relief veterinarian that will be working in our hospital intermittently for the next few months. She graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She is a residency-trained anesthesiologist after completing a rotating large animal internship at Iowa State University CVM and an anesthesiology/pain management residency at University of Florida CVM.
She is also certified in mixed animal acupuncture and tui-na thru the Chi Institute.
Dr. Bornkamp is a native of New Jersey and recently returned to the state to be closer to her family. She has transitioned from being a full-time anesthesiologist to also providing wellness, emergency, and urgent care to dogs and cats. While trained in traditional veterinary medicine, Dr. Bornkamp is working alongside our team to learn more about holistic options.
Dr. Dennis Ting
Relief Surgeon
Dr. Dennis Ting is originally from Southern California where he attended the University of California, San Diego for his undergraduate work in the field of Animal Physiology and Neuroscience. He then earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California, Davis in 2003. In the following year, Dr. Ting returned to Southern California to complete a one-year internship in small animal medicine and surgery. With a growing interest in small animal surgery, he completed a surgery specific internship in Denver followed by an orthopaedic research fellowship at Michigan State University. Dr. Ting then stayed on with Michigan State University and completed his residency training in small animal surgery. Dr. Ting is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has particular interests in orthopaedics, traumatology, and oncologic surgery. He is trained in minimally invasive surgeries such as fluoroscopic-assisted fracture repair. Dr. Ting has published a number of original orthopaedic articles in various veterinary journals and has presented numerous lectures on international, national and local levels. He remains active in veterinary continuing education and is a leading instructor in veterinary orthopaedic courses.
Mark Hladyk
Veterinary Technician, AVA, P.F. Dip, Certified Dog Trainer and Behaviorist
Mark Hladyk has a wide variety of training and experience in the animal industry. Since he was 16 years old he has been working in animal shelters, pet day cares, grooming salons, and animal hospitals.
Mark started his pet care education by getting his Diploma as a dog groomer at North Jersey Dog Grooming School in 2011. After that he was very interested in Dog Training and Animal Psychology, eventually getting his Dog Training Diploma in July 2015 from Penn Forster Collège and has knowledge in Animal Psychology in March 2016. Need to learn as much as he could, he would later get his Pet Adoption Certification from Holly & Hugo.
However, Mark wondered what about the medical field that could go along with Dog Training, so he went and got his Veterinary Assistant Certification, AVA in 2018 with Morris County Vocational School in Denville. To update his credentials, he went back to school for Dog Training and a Certification Dog Training with Animal Behavior College in 2022.
Mark uses Fear Free techniques in his training programs. He does not use shock collars or force in any of his sessions. He tries to use natural positive reinforcement and natural training and takes time to understand the clients and the dog(s) he is working with.
With a thorough evaluation and report for owners, he will work with you to get to a resolution by working as a team to get to the source of the problem. There is no quick fix in dog training. However, if we work together as a committed team, together we can get to the root of the problem.
While Mark dedicates his life to helping pets and pet parents alike, he does enjoy sitting back, embracing the joys of life with singing, writing and photography.
Kyara Segura
Veterinary Assistant
Kyara Segura has always had an interest in medicine and animals since she was a little girl. It was only natural that combining those interests would lead her into the veterinary field. While working with cattle on the Rutgers University farm, she knew veterinary medicine was where she wanted to focus her time and devote her energy. Kyara had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Belize where she had hands-on experience practicing suturing, assisting in surgeries, vaccination administration, and working with Doctors to understand various animal diseases.
Kyara is currently completing her Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a minor in Animal Science at Rutgers University, scheduled to graduate in May 2024. After which, she plans on continuing her studies at a veterinary school to master her new abilities.
Kyara balances her studies and work life by enjoying the simpler things like hiking, traveling, and spending time with her pets Bear the cavapoo and Katara her fish.
Maria Gromadzka
Veterinary Technician
Maria is one of our aspiring veterinary technicians who is working hard every day so she can become a fully licensed technician in the future. Maria was raised around animals all her life, quickly developing a close bond with every animal she met. Seeking something fulfilling in her life, she was accepted into the Penn Foster vet tech certification program and has been dutifully studying and learning every opportunity she gets. She one day seeks to take all the knowledge she has accumulated, finding a nice and quiet place to live off the grid and living a fully eco-friendly, and sustainable life with her garden and animal friends.
Until she gets to that day, she is doing everything in her power to preserve the human-animal bond. She is a proud vegan, takes frequent hiking trips, practices meditation, and refines her pet care skills with her faithful Red Doberman Pinscher Kingston.