Ophthalmology & Surgery

Dr. Kristin Fischer, DVM, DACVO

Lecture Topics

• Practical corneal ulcer management

• Feline specific ocular disease

• What medications should I keep on my shelf and what do they do?

• Practical ophthalmic surgical tips for the general practice vet

• How to approach canine glaucoma

• Ophthalmology emergencies

• Canine and feline lens disease

Dr. Kristin Fischer grew up in a small town called Oak Ridge, TN. She attended The University of Georgia for undergrad and then moved back home to attend The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (DVM, Class of 2007). Dr. Fischer headed West to Denver, CO, for her rotating internship at VCA Alameda East Veterinary Hospital before heading back home to Knoxville for her ophthalmology residency at UT. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2012.

After her residency, Dr. Fischer started a new ophthalmology service at a multi-specialty hospital in Columbia, SC, before settling finally in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her husband, Scott, and their two amazing children.

Currently, Dr. Fischer is a lead doctor at Animal Eye Care of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC and actively donates her time and services to local rescue organizations and raptor rehabilitation centers in the Lowcountry. Dr. Fischer is the founder of OphthoVet Consulting, LLC which is a veterinary ophthalmology teleconsulting business she created to help primary care veterinarians manage their complicated ophthalmology cases when referral is not an option. Dr. Fischer is also an ophthalmology specialty guide with the online education community VetHive, and she is passionate about sharing her knowledge with general practitioners locally and beyond.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and her pets (Dogs- Tater Tot & French Fry and Cat-Yoda) and riding horses.

Chris Ralphs received his DVM from Cornell University.  He completed a rotating internship at the Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Norwalk CT and a Surgical internship at Gulf Coast Veterinary specialists in Houston TX.  He then completed his residency and masters degree at the University of Minnesota.  While there, he met his wife Kristen and the two of them moved to Pittsburgh where he joined the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialists and she joined a general practice.  After three years in Pittsburgh, Chris and his wife moved to Rhode Island to be closer to their families and to start their own family.  Chris has been working for the last 18 years at Ocean State Veterinary Specialists, a multispecialty referral and emergency hospital with a very busy ER and a teaching hospital component with interns and residents.  He enjoys the pace and variety of caseload and finds the teaching component to be particularly rewarding.  Chris also provides instructional videos for the VetGirl website, serves as one of the forum advisory specialists and has lectured at two of the VetGirlU conferences.   When not working, he enjoys any outdoor activity, travel, woodworking and spending time with his wife and two daughters.