Bodhi Animal Hospital

Iris Whelan

DVM, Medical Director

Dr. Iris Whelan spent some time living in New York City as a child, but spent the majority of her childhood in the Bay Area. Because of her fond memories of New York, she decided to go back there for college, and received a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from Cornell University. She then moved back to California and received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from University of California, Davis. After graduation, she spent her first year doing an internship at San Luis Rey Equine Hospital and had the rare opportunity to work with a world-renowned equine neurosurgeon. She switched to small animal practice soon after and spent time working throughout San Diego County, from Chula Vista to Encinitas to Oceanside. Having served in several Medical Director roles in the past 8 years, Dr. Whelan has enjoyed working closely with her teams to help promote a positive and collaborative working environment which then leads to happy pets and clients. She is passionate about preventative medicine and strongly believes that educating clients is the key to pets living longer and healthier lives. She also has interests in the areas of dentistry, dermatology and internal medicine. During her free time, she enjoys traveling, horseback riding, hiking, snowboarding, and reading. She is excited about joining the practice at Bodhi Animal Hospital and getting to know the pets and clients here!

Elizabeth Polachek 

DVM

Dr. Liz Polachek had a dream of becoming a veterinarian for as long as she can remember. While growing up in a small town in Southeast Minnesota, she cared for a menagerie of animals from a plethora of cats to leopard geckos, to a dachshund, and a red-eared slider turtle. At the age of 9, her grandmother found an article in the newspaper about a 4-H program working with llamas. The moment she assisted in helping a cria take its first steps minutes after birth, Dr. Polachek knew she was on the right journey and continued to care for llamas for 10 years. This brought her to job-shadowing at a small animal clinic. Dr. Polachek witnessed the vet care for someone’s sick family member while unknowingly healing their human counterpart, and it only convinced her more on her intent to become a veterinarian. 

Dr. Polachek continued this extreme passion to the University of Minnesota where she completed her B.S in Animal science while simultaneously employed as an animal care worker at the University of Minnesota Large Animal Hospital. In those 4 years, she had the opportunity to witness the famous Australian outback wildlife; and complete an internship alongside primates at a local zoo. After graduating from the University of Minnesota Dr. Polachek took a year to delve deeper in her clinical skills and worked as a veterinary assistant at a local small animal hospital. With her love of traveling in mind, she landed on studying at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. She finished her clinical year of veterinary school at the University of Minnesota.

Swapping Midwest living for the west coast, Dr. Polachek just started her veterinary career in San Diego summer 2021. Her strongest interests are ophthalmology, soft tissue surgery, and dentistry. She hopes to get involved in outside wildlife rehabilitation and zoo organizations while in San Diego as a volunteer veterinarian. However, her main priority is with her small animal clients to help strengthen the human- animal bond, and educating her clients as she takes on her new role as associate Veterinarian at Bodhi Animal Hospital.

In her free time she loves to tap into her creative side by watercolor painting and most recently during the pandemic, macrame. You can find her outdoors most of the time hiking, surfing, and rollerblading. She also is quite the adrenaline enthusiast receiving her scuba certification, skydiving over the great barrier reef, and bungee jumping in New Zealand. 

Ashley Morgan

DVM

Dr. Morgan was born and raised in Colorado. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Oberlin College. Her love of all creatures great and small took her overseas, and she graduated from the University of Glasgow’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Scotland in 2010.

Following graduation, she worked in Maun, Botswana for the Worldwide Veterinary Service, a charitable organization providing veterinary teams and sustainable veterinary resources to impoverished areas and animals greatly in need. She, then, worked for two years in a small animal practice on the east coast of England near Canterbury, followed by several years in American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accredited practices in Greeley, Colorado and Pismo Beach, California. In 2018-2019, she completed a specialty degree at Massy University, New Zealand, in epidemiology. She has a special interest in exotics, wildlife, and canine and feline geriatric medicine.

As a contributing photographer for the World Wildlife Fund, she combined her passion for both photography and wildlife conservation. In her spare time, Dr. Morgan enjoys skiing, freediving, surfing, and ultramarathon running, as well as the excellent company of her rescue cat, Jelly Tots.