Dr. Epperly is a lecturer in the imaging service.
Tell us about your background.
I am originally from the Chicago suburbs. I moved to Colorado for veterinary school and graduated from Colorado State University in 2007.
Through a lucky twist of fate (shortage of large animal veterinarians), I met an amazing mixed animal veterinarian who was willing to teach a city girl about cows, horses, sheep, goats, and the joys of small-town living. Because of that, I practiced as a rural, mixed animal veterinarian in southeastern Colorado for 8 years (for that fabulous boss).
During that time, I also did regular relief work at the local shelter doing HQHVSN and other shelter tasks. At that same time, I was extremely active in the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, serving in all leadership roles, including president. I had the opportunity to mentor veterinary students and recent graduates and subsequently fell in love with teaching.
That, coupled with my passion for imaging of all species, led me to pursue a residency in diagnostic imaging in 2015. I matched at Cornell and completed my residency, passed boards, and took a job as faculty. I spent a couple of years in academia, bounced around in private practice, and settled with VetCT doing teleradiology in 2022.
I’m excited to be back in academia and teaching here at the University of Illinois.
How did you become interested in radiology?
I fell in love with imaging as a veterinary student, as it seemed to be the key part of diagnosis in all the interesting cases. I considered becoming a radiologist right away but couldn’t imagine not being a “real vet,” meaning not practicing and treating patients.
I loved practice, but my brain started itching for a challenge again after 7 years and I thought the time was right to start a residency. I’m an ambivert, so I do well working alone in a dark room but also working with a team on the clinic floor. I’ve loved pretty much everything about radiology, especially getting to work with fabulous clinicians and referring vets.
Tell us about one of your favorite cases.
This is a tricky question. Some of my common answers include ultra-sounding lions and tigers, but that wasn’t because of the medical conditions in those cases. One of my all-time favorites happened during my residency at Cornell. It was my first week serving as service chief, so I was already a bit stressed. I was overseeing an MRI for a 5-month-old male intact boxer puppy. He had severe neck and right forelimb nerve pain, and the suspected diagnosis was steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis. The initial MRI images came across and the spine looked good, but there was inflammation along the brachial plexus. As I stared at the images, I could see something in the esophagus. It seemed to be a giant foreign body, but we decided to swap to CT for further characterization. It turned out to be a large branch that went from just caudal to the larynx all the way into the stomach! The puppy had swallowed a giant stick, and a small secondary branch had perforated his esophagus into the mediastinum, extending into the brachial plexus and causing nerve inflammation. He went right into surgery, and they were able to remove the branch from the stomach.
They closed the esophageal tear and lavaged the mediastinum. He made a full recovery. The craziest part was that he was eating for the entire 3 days without regurgitation! The owners just needed to elevate the food dish because he couldn’t bend his neck down.
What are your special interests inside or outside of the clinic?
Inside the clinic, my passion lies with teaching and learning, which includes students, technicians, general practitioners, house officers, and other clinicians. I know not everyone loves to talk to themselves in the dark, like radiologists, so I try to make things fun and accessible, meeting others wherever their current level of understanding is. I like to remind people that I was a rural, mixed animal vet for 8 years, so I’ve made just about every radiology mistake that exists!
I’m always up for a challenge, and I enjoy farm animal species, MRI, and all things uncommon.
In my life outside of work, I am married to my high school sweetheart, and we have four almost-grown children, ages 13, 15, 17, and 19.
We are minimalist nomads who enjoy hiking, camping, and reading together. We’ve camped in 49 states (headed to Alaska this summer) and lived in Australia for 2024. Our goals included traveling “everywhere”!
