Meet our Team

Dr. Grochowsky hails from the Philadelphia region of Pennsylvania, where he started his veterinary career as a kennel attendant and veterinary technician. He attended Cornell University’s College of Veterinary medicine, graduating in 2009, before completing a rotating small animal internship at Alameda East in Denver, Colorado. During this time, Dr. Grochowsky developed a love for managing intensive care cases and was accepted to a residency position at Tufts University. Following completion of this program, he became a board-certified diplomate in Emergency and Critical Care before returning to the Rocky Mountains. Over the past several years, Dr. Grochowsky has lent his knowledge to various regions and hospitals, functioning as a traveling locum criticalist and consultant before settling in Austin to help support and grow the wonderful team at PSA. In his free time, Dr. Grochowsky enjoys cooking, trail running, exploring Austin’s live music scene, and hiding the fact that he is a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Dr. Hetrick was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She has loved animals for as long as anyone can remember and grew up with chocolate Labrador retrievers.

Dr. Hetrick received her DVM from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine as part of the centennial class of 2016. During vet school, she adopted two Catahoula leopard dogs which are widely (and affectionately) known as “the catahooligans.”  Following vet school, Dr. Hetrick completed a one-year rotating internship at Blue Pearl in north Houston. After completing her rotating internship, she pursued a specialty internship focused on Internal Medicine at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists.  Lastly, she completed a 3-year residency at Kansas State University in small animal internal medicine. During that time, she worked on research in antibiotic resistance in leptospirosis and quality of life in geriatric dogs. 

Dr. Hetrick loves all facets of internal medicine, but she is particularly interested in infectious diseases, immune-mediated disease, and the management of diabetes and DKA. 

When not in the clinic she enjoys playing with her dogs, growing heirloom tomatoes, baking, and exploring Austin and the Hill Country.

Elizabeth Passmore spent her childhood in northern Virginia in a suburb of our nation’s capital. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with honors, and a minor in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon College of Science in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrasting her undergraduate research work in conductive polymer synthesis, her veterinary pursuits took her west to the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine where she earned her doctorate (DVM) in 2016. She then joined the staff at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana for a small animal rotating internship in medicine and surgery. Her interests are in seizure management, and conditions of abnormal strength and quality of movement led her to seek specialized training in neurology - bringing her to the southwest for the first time. Following a 1-year specialty internship in Arizona, Dr. Passmore completed a rigorous 3-year private practice neurology and neurosurgery residency program at The Animal Neurology & Imaging Center in New Mexico. She is thrilled to now offer neurologic care in Texas at Pet Specialists of Austin!

If not in the clinic, Dr. Passmore can be found at local farmers' markets, coffee shops, microbreweries, and on the trails (on foot or by mountain bike). Her adored Cavalier named “Haven” can often be spotted nearby in tow, or in her lap.

Dr. Dottie Hagler attended Emerson College, obtaining her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts in writing, literature, and publishing, and graduating with honors. Her final semester was spent studying art history in a medieval castle in the Netherlands. She then completed pre-veterinary training at Middle Tennessee State University and obtained her veterinary degree from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. She completed a small animal rotating internship at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016, followed by a 3-year neurology and neurosurgery residency at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Hagler both completed her neurology residency and became board certified in Veterinary Neurology with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in July of 2019. She also completed the ACVIM Neurosurgery Certificate of Training in 2019. Her professional interests include neurosurgery and inflammatory brain disease.  

Dr. Hagler grew up in Nashville, TN. She has an eclectic range of personal interests including natural history, storytelling, and folklore. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, qigong, meditation, and spending time in nature. She lives in Austin with her husband and hero, Jon, a Special Forces Medical Sergeant. Together they have three rotten dogs, Cricket, Tinkerbelle, and Sam.  

Dr. Shanti Jha earned a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) with honors from Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra, India, in 2001. After BVSc, he did an MS from Oregon State University in 2005. Dr. Jha was a general small animal physician for one and a half years in Syracuse, NY, after completing an ECFVG certification from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. He then completed a surgical internship at Veterinary Specialists of Northern Colorado, Loveland, in 2009. Following this, he completed a Small Animal Surgery Residency at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in July 2012. In 2013 Dr. Shanti Jha became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (board-certified small animal surgeon).

Dr. Ben Bayer is a 2003 graduate of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. After completing his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, he pursued advanced training in surgery including a surgical internship at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center (DVSC) and a surgical residency at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Bayer became a board certified small animal surgeon (Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons) in 2012.