Inspiring the Next Generation

Dr. Jack Root ('78)
In his cramped office inside a horse barn, Jack Root, owner of Oakhurst Equine Veterinary Services in Newberg, Oregon, was scratching out a drawing. As he drew, Root described to his client how he would perform incisions on her horse for a procedure called "kissing spine surgery," intended to correct "kissing" or overlapping, spinal vertebrae. Root has performed more than 100 of these surgeries using a technique and surgical tools he invented. Today, Root's passion for veterinary medicine also includes training young, large animal veterinarians.