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Dr. Amy Nickels knows all too well the ups and downs of the veterinarian profession. For the last 35 years, she has seen it all and helped countless four-legged patients live their best lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since childhood, it has seemed written in the stars that Nickels should spend her life caring for animals. A native of Manchester, Nickels said she has always had a love for animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI grew up around horses and just always had a love for animals,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd when I went to college, I just decided I wanted to pursue it. I always wanted to be a veterinarian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She pursued her undergraduate degree at East Tennessee State University and the University of New Haven and received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She then started her veterinary career in North Carolina, her first year out of medical school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI then moved to Johnson City, where I worked for 12 years and then moved back to Middle Tennessee,\u201d explained Nickels. \u201cI worked for Town and Country Vet Hospital in McMinnville for three years, and then I came and opened a practice in Tullahoma in 2004.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She opened Pet Medical Center in 2004. After being located off of Lincoln Street for four years, she moved to her current location off of Mitchel Boulevard in Tullahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nickels said the clinic sees small animals such as cats, dogs, and even birds and reptiles. They are a range of services that include pet emergency and critical care, dental care, internal medicine, pain management, microchipping, on-site laboratory and diagnostics, hospice care, and much more. She credits her hardworking staff for the continued success of the clinic and notes that local veterinarians are crucial to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy staff is wonderful, some of them have been with me for 20 years,\u201d she said. \u201cYou definitely need a good local vet for regular checkups and everyday care \u2014 kind of like having a family doctor. But sometimes, when something more serious comes up, like cancer or orthopedic issues, you\u2019ve got to travel to see a specialist. It\u2019s all about getting the best care possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With almost four decades in the business of caring for animals, Nickels said the profession continues to challenge her and bring her joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love what I do, because it\u2019s never boring,\u201d she said. \u201cI learn something new almost every day, even though I\u2019ve been doing it as long as I have. Veterinary medicines have changed so much since I started with new technologies and new treatments,\u201d said Nickels. \u201cThere seems to be something new every week. And I like keeping up with it all. But I also have some things that I don\u2019t change, because they work and continue to be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nickels added that even with all the advances, the heart of the practice stays the same: caring for animals and their owners. That part hasn\u2019t changed, and for Nickels and her staff, it never will. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pet Medical Center is located at 100 Mitchell Blvd. in Tullahoma.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BEING A veterinarian is anything but predictable. Most mornings begin with a routine schedule that includes checkups, vaccinations, and possibly a puppy\u2019s first visit. One could say it\u2019s calm, almost peaceful. But a quiet morning can change in a heartbeat. Suddenly, there\u2019s an emergency: a dog may be seizing, a cat that can\u2019t breathe, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/11\/4-3-1024x683.jpg\")
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