Dr. Jamie Klements joins the Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL, from the Midwest, where she operated her own practice as an equine chiropractor and acupuncturist. With a passion for learning, Dr. Klements has a wealth of knowledge on equine wellness and comes to the clinic to apply her skills to sports medicine alongside PBEC’s Dr. Bill Patterson.
Q: What made you want to become an equine veterinarian?
A: I was one of those kids who was born loving horses. My family didn’t own horses, but I took riding lessons and worked in barns as much as I could. I rode in the hunters as a hobby, but never as a professional. I was pre-med for most of my undergrad schooling. I started spending time with my horse’s veterinarian during my junior year of college after a summer job at the Cleveland Clinic determined human medicine wasn’t for me. I love horses and medicine, and the switch made sense. Today I am still grateful I get to work with horses for my job.
Q: What’s your background in veterinary medicine?
A: I’m grew up in Ohio and attended Miami University in Ohio for my undergraduate degree. I went to vet school at Iowa State University. After graduating from vet school, I worked at Lebanon Equine Clinic in Ohio for two years. In 2017, I started my practice called Midwest Veterinary Chiropractic and Wellness that focuses on chiropractic care and acupuncture treatment for horses. I am located near the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, OH. I have worked as a show veterinarian and see my clients at their home farms or at the horse show for acupuncture and chiropractic care.
Q: What drew you to equine chiropractic and acupuncture, and what was the training process like for these specialties?
A: I’ve always had dachshunds, and while I was in vet school, I had one that needed back surgery. There was a vet at the practice who did acupuncture on him, and it helped him so much with his rehabilitation. Seeing how positively the treatment affected him made me interested in learning how to do it for my own patients.
Currently, neither acupuncture nor chiropractic is a boarded specialty but a certification training program that is available after you are a veterinarian. I completed my acupuncture training immediately out of vet school. I attended the Chi University that is outside of Ocala, FL. I started my chiropractic training at Parker University in Dallas, TX, which is a human chiropractic school that also offers an animal certification. I have studied with a professor at the Health Pioneer Institute near Chicago, IL, who focuses on the neurology related to chiropractic. Finally, I just completed a master’s degree in Equine Integrated Veterinary Medicine from the Chi University, which covered spinal manipulation (chiropractic), rehabilitation, pain management, and acupuncture for horses.
Q: Why is continuing your education as a veterinarian important to you?
A: I’m an education junkie. I want to help my patients as much as I can, so I enjoy always learning something new. I decided to come down to Palm Beach Equine Clinic to learn more about sports medicine. I have known Dr. Bill Patterson for a while, and he practices sports medicine related to how the whole horse moves and specifically the back and neck. I am here to work with him to learn how to combine sports medicine with the Traditional Chinese Medicine that I’ve been focused on.
Q: What benefits do you think Traditional Chinese Medicine provides for equine athletes?
A: Learning Eastern or Chinese medicine helps with paying attention to the horse as a whole being and how their environment, job, and personality can affect their health. It has taught me additional signs to watch for when examining a horse and deciding on a diagnosis. Show horses are limited in the medication they can receive for pain and discomfort, but we can offer acupuncture or massage if a horse needs some care before the competition. I have been a part of helping horses with a lameness or health care issue using Chinese medicine when Western medicine hasn’t been successful or had a good answer.
Q: How has it been living and working in Wellington so far?
A: I’m still settling into my role at PBEC, but I’m excited to be here. If someone is interested in sports medicine, working here is the dream because you get to learn about every specialty all in one place. Everyone comes to Wellington to work and learn from the best in the sport horse industry. I think this is the equestrian equivalent of moving to Los Angeles to be in the movies. I love Florida. There is so much wildlife, it’s beautiful, and I can garden in the winter!
I’ll be working seasonally at PBEC. My partner and I bought a farm in Loxahatchee, near Wellington, a year and a half ago. I still see clients in Ohio and Kentucky, so I currently go back and forth. I plan to spend most of the winter in Wellington and travel to Ohio and Kentucky in the summer to see clients.
Q: How has it been working with Dr. Patterson and the team at PBEC?
A: It’s a dream come true. I’ve learned so much from Dr. Patterson and seeing more complex cases has been really interesting. Everyone at the clinic has been helpful and friendly. I am excited to get to work with and learn from the best in the industry.
Q: What does a typical week look like for you right now?
A: I often see patients for acupuncture or chiropractic treatment at the start of the week when the horses have some downtime away from the horse show. Monday is usually my busiest day and favorite day to work. A lot of barns are closed, and the horses enjoy how quiet it is while I’m working on them.
For the rest of the week, I usually ride around with Dr. Patterson and help with lameness cases as they pop up. I am also going to cover some shifts at the horse show on weekends, which I like because I get to see my clients succeeding in the ring after I’ve helped them.
Q: What do you enjoy doing in Wellington when you’re not working?
A: I ride when I can. I also love the ocean. My partner, Steve, and I like to go offshore fishing. I also enjoy spending time with my dogs. We have a dachshund named Phoebe and a St. Bernard named Bruno, which covers both ends of the size spectrum!
