Meet our Team

Originally from Alaska, Cassidy came to Texas with her family in 2010. At the age of 17, she decided to join the United States Army as a Veterinary Technician, and shortly after, joined the AVC and PSA family. With the hands-on training she received and the hard work she put in; she became a lead technician in 5 months of working with PSA. With this experience, she helped multiple military units establish basic proficiency standards, as well as maintaining combat readiness both at home and abroad. Most recently, during her last deployment to Kuwait and Iraq, Cassidy was instrumental to her unit’s overall mission success. On her way to the promotion of SGT, Cassidy worked hand in hand with the US Army’s Head Veterinary Surgeon. This duo developed SOPs that would eventually help the Army’s Chief of Veterinary Corps make critical strategic decisions including the placement, training, readiness, and execution of the Veterinary mission throughout the assigned areas of Operation Inherent Resolve. 

Cassidy is an extremely hard-working individual and expects nothing less than excellence from herself and those around her. She continues to hone and develop her skills as both a Veterinary Technician and as a leader. When she is not working to save the lives of the patients under her care, you can usually catch her enjoying a glass of wine with loved ones or spending quality time with her four-legged baby, Chinook. Cassidy’s passion will continue to propel her forward, and the PSA team is extremely lucky to have her!

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. 

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).

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. 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.

Priscilla was born and raised on the Texas coast.  She has always been very passionate about animals and knew that she wanted to work with them from a very young age.  

Priscilla entered the veterinary industry at 17 years of age.  She worked hard and diligently to develop her knowledge and skills during her 22-year veterinary technician career.  Fifteen of those years were as a surgical technician in both general practice and specialty hospitals.  Priscilla then spent three years managing a very busy specialty and emergency hospital. 

It was during this time that she developed a solid attraction to marketing and referral relationships. She created the Referral and Marketing department for Heart of Texas Veterinary Specialty Center and later Pet Specialists of Austin.  Priscilla enjoys working purposefully and enthusiastically to ensure the veterinary referral community of the Central Texas area is kept up to date on any new developments at Heart of Texas and Pet Specialists and strengthening those paramount bonds and relationships.

Priscilla enjoys spending time with her husband Kori, sons Cameron and Braxton, and dogs Larry and Griffin at home.  Somehow, she always carves out time for her other passion, DIY home projects and crafts.