Dr. Marge Lewter

Dr. Marge Lewter was raised in Virginia with a menagerie of pets ranging from rabbits to horses. She did her undergraduate work at Virginia Tech, and got her DVM from the University of Georgia in 1981. She then completed an Internship in Rural Practice at the University of Tennessee before joining a Dairy Practice.

After eight years in Dairy practice, she started to do relief work for over twenty practices in Virginia while getting her Acupuncture training from IVAS in 1992, and her Chinese Herbal Medicine training also from IVAS in 1995.

Shortly afterwards she started a mobile practice and in 2010 transitioned that practice to an exclusive holistic practice, both mobile and in a facility, for both small animals and horses.

Dr. Lewter has a keen interest in mentoring veterinary students and young veterinarians  with an interest in holistic medicine, and she has supported them by serving on the AHVMA/AHVMF scholarship committee as well as hosting many at her practice over almost two decades.

I was interested in speaking with her as she has been considering a number of questions as she approaches the end of her career. Among those are how to try to continue to provide service to her clients, how to pass on the knowledge she has gained over decades of holistic practice, and how to provide for the welfare of her staff as she transitions out of the office. These are questions that every solo holistic veterinarian has to face as they near retirement. Associates and potential buyers are in short supply in veterinary medicine in general, and our type of practice is especially affected. Unfortunately, there are no good answers at this point, but we shouldn't stop looking. 

Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Marge Lewter as we remember her training and career, and hear what thought she has about eventual practice transition.