Dr. Aki Otomo
Clinical Assistant Professor
Small Animal Surgery
Education
DVM, St. George’s University with clinical rotations completed at Oregon State University
BS & BA, Simon Fraser University
Past Experience
After graduation, Dr. Otomo completed two internships including a companion animal rotating internship at Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and a small animal surgery internship at VCA Animal Specialty & Emergency Center in Los Angeles. She completed a small animal surgery residency at Louisiana State University followed by a surgical oncology fellowship at Colorado State University’s Flint Animal Cancer Center. From 2023 to 2025, Dr. Otomo was a private practice surgical oncologist at Care Center Cincinnati.
Specialty Area
Small animal soft tissue surgery with a focus on surgical oncology. “I have seen how prevalent cancer is in dogs and cats and how devastating the diagnosis can be for pet parents. This led me to become particularly passionate about oncology and I am deeply interested and dedicated to optimizing patient outcome and quality of life for patients. I truly believe a multimodal and a collaborative integrated model in veterinary oncology leads to better patient outcomes.”
Interesting Fact
In addition to her undergraduate degree in animal biology, Dr. Otomo earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature.
Dr. Otomo says…
“My favorite part of being a small animal surgeon is seeing pet parents reunited with their pet on discharge from a challenging surgical procedure. Their pet is typically so happy and overjoyed to be back with their family and I can see how grateful pet parents are. Helping pet parents navigate a challenging and emotionally distressing medical journey with their pets and making a tangible difference and impact in patient care and outcome so pets can continue to have a good quality of life for as long as possible is very rewarding.”
March 2026