Denise wanted to be a veterinary surgeon from a very young age but her education was disrupted at the age of 16 when she suddenly had to leave home and, sadly, school earlier than planned.
She commenced work as an animal nurse initially in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and then joined the RSPCA Animal Hospital in Putney, London, when she was just 17. It was there she developed her interest in eyes. Assisting a veterinary surgeon in the repair of an injured eye one day and having preserved that eye’s vision, she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life working in ophthalmology.
Denise has done referral ophthalmology work since 1995. She spent 8 years working at the Royal Veterinary College initially as an intern, then as a resident and then as a consultant in veterinary ophthalmology, 17 years running a referral ophthalmology service at a practice very similar to Seadown in Worthing, then 3.5 years in the ophthalmology service at Lumbry Park, before joining the Seadown ophthalmology team in October 2023.
Denise says that she feels so at home here in the Seadown family and feels very lucky to have joined such a well-established and well-respected ophthalmology service. We feel jolly lucky to have her too!
On her first day at Seadown Denise saw a reptile being radiographed, a rabbit having an eye examination, a horse being trotted up for lameness and overheard 2 vets discussing skin disease in Llamas. She was really excited by all this as it reminded her why she had wanted to be a vet all those years ago!
In her spare time Denise loves water-based hobbies like sailing, attempting to wind surf and kayaking. She also loves cycling and jazz singing. Her absolute favourite thing though is walking her gorgeous GSD Molly.