Meet Our Staff

	Stephen D. Fisch, DVM Dr. Stephen D. Fisch has been a horse enthusiast since early childhood. He was a jockey before pursuing his DVM degree from the University of Georgia, where he graduated in 1982. He is president of AVS Equine Medical & Surgical Hospital in Tallahassee, which is the only full service equine medical and surgical referral hospital within 150 miles of Tallahassee. Dr. Fisch’s special interests are diagnosis and treatment of equine lameness, surgery, equine sports medicine and all aspects of reproduction. Dr. Fisch enjoys helping high caliber competition horses perform to the best of their ability. He is certified in equine acupuncture and qualified in 2001 as an FEI veterinarian. Dr. Fisch has been the official FEI veterinarian for Red Hills Horse Trials, a World Cup Qualifying Event. Dr. Fisch's passion is family & breeding racing Quarter Horses. His spare time is spent with his wife, Kelley, and four children – Joe, Jessie, Casey, and Zoey. He avidly follows Quarter Horse racing and was instrumental in bringing Quarter Horse racing back to Florida in 2009 after an 18 year hiatus. He is shown above with "First Down Straw" a Quarter Horse racing stallion that stands at AVSE.
	W Joseph Fisch, DVM "Dr. Joe" Dr. Joe Fisch grew up riding ponies. He rode and trained his Pony Finals mount in 1992. He moved from ponies to horses, showing in the southeast in USET and other equitation classes. Next, the need for speed took over and Dr. Joe enjoyed success on the Jumper Circiut before heading to college. Joe Fisch, DVM went to the University of Florida for both undergraduate and veterinary medicine and graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. Dr. Joe enjoys working on challenging neurological cases ranging from eastern equine encephalitis to West Nile to EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis)to CVM. Another focus he has is the theriogenology (reproduction) side of the practice. Dr. Joe enjoys the variety of reproduction cases he is able to work on at AVS Equine Hospital. His cases include: embryo transfers, artifical insemination with fresh and frozen semen, cleaning the infected mare, training stallions to the collection dummy, working with stallion that have less than optimal semen and finding the right formula so they can have a successful stud career, and challenging neonatal cases. Dr. Joe enjoys many hobbies and likes to be outside as much as possible with activities including kayaking, scuba diving, water and snow skiing topping the list. He likes playing and watching sports (A LOT!). He loves to zipline as shown in photo on right and has been know to jump out of airplanes in foreign counties.
	Tami Voorhees, DVM Tami Voorhees, DVM was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. A passion for horses was a family legacy Dr. Voorhees inherited. Her grandpa was a calf roper and raised Belgian draft horses in Iowa, and her mom, an avid trail rider, encouraged her to pursue her passion. Dr. Voorhees started taking formal riding lessons when she was 8 years old and spent the next eleven years barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway calf roping, and team roping at rodeos all over Missouri. Dr. Voorhees received her B.S. degree in Biology from Maryville University and then graduated from the University Of Missouri College Of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. After veterinary school, she completed a year long internship at AVS Equine Hospital and then went on to pursue veterinary medicine experience in Maryland and Missouri. In July of 2010, Dr. Voorhees accepted an Associate Veterinarian position at AVS Equine Hospital and is very happy to be back working with clients and colleagues she enjoys and living in a great community. When she is not at work, her favorite activities include having dinner with family and friends, jogging, trail riding, and going to Cardinals baseball games with her dad. Go Cardinals!!
	Kate Hepworth, DVM Dr. Kate Hepworth fell in love with horses shortly after learning to walk. As a child growing up in Northern Indiana, Dr. Hepworth spent many hours at the barn, showing Quarter Horses in both open and 4H shows. While she loves riding hunter under saddle Quarter Horses, she currently owns a barrel horse that she has had for close to 15 years. Dr. Hepworth earned both her Bachelors and Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Purdue University. While she enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine, her special interests are internal medicine, intensive care patients, and sports medicine. Outside of veterinary medicine, Dr. Hepworth loves to be outside. She enjoys running with her dog, riding, snow-skiing, and the beach. She also lives to travel, and has experienced veterinary medicine in countries as far away as South Africa. In addition, Dr. Hepworth enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.