Your OTHER Family Doctor

At the age of five, while playing in woods close to my home, I discovered a Box Turtle.  I brought the turtle to my kindergarten class Show and Tell.  It was then that I learned that a person, known as a veterinarian, was responsible for the care and well being of animals.  From that moment on, I decided that I would become a veterinarian.

Years of dedicated study followed.  I began working for a local veterinary hospital at age 16, graduated with honors from Tufts University, and was accepted to seven veterinary colleges.  I chose Cornell Veterinary College, and received my Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from that institution in 1986.  To this day I am very proud of the training and education I received from the Cornell faculty, which included many giants of the profession among its staff.

I spent the next twenty-three years working in the Slate Belt, seeing farm animals, pets, and the occasional exotic animal (tigers, wolves, ostriches, and llamas, have been among my patients).  After a brief period in Nazareth, I returned to the Slate Belt in 2012 to open Leck Veterinary Hospital.

My avocational interests are many.  I am a prodigious historical researcher and have authored one history book and am working on another.  I enjoy carpentry and wood carving, and love antique cars.  Domestic and foreign travel is another of my passions; wherever I go in the world, I seek out veterinarians to talk to, and, if possible, tour their hospitals.  I once spent a week working with a veterinarian in Chile, and in 2006 I gave a talk to Chinese veterinarians of the Shanghai Veterinary Association about veterinary practice in the United States.

I have never regretted the career decision I made at the age of five.  I find veterinary medicine and surgery to be a continuously challenging, interesting, and satisfying field.  I particularly enjoy surgery, internal medicine, dermatology, and feline medicine, but I find all aspects of my profession engaging.  For almost twenty years, I have also testified as an expert witness in legal cases involving animals.  Although every day in practice is different, every day also allows me to help people by helping their pets, which is the best part of what I get to do.

Dr Derr is a native of the Lehigh Valley and has been in practice since 1996. Graduating from Bethlehem Catholic High School, Dr Derr earned her bachelor is science from Moravian College. She then achieved her lifetime goal and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. She returned to the Lehigh Valley to practice small animal medicine. Heeding the advice of an early mentor, Dr Derr “treats both ends of the leash” and addresses each patient and client’s individual needs. Dr Derr is a mentor herself and enjoys teaching students about the many opportunities veterinary medicine has to offer.

An avid fisherman, Dr Derr enjoys conventional and fly fishing in both salt and freshwater. She established Paint the Delaware Pink to provide breast cancer survivors with a weekend of fun and support while learning about fly fishing.

Dr Derr lives along the Lehigh River with her husband, two sons, a Labrador, a Brittany, and two hypoallergenic Siberian cats.