Meet the Team

Veronica Jarvinen, DVM

Practice Owner

Dr. Veronica Jarvinen trained in veterinary medicine at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Her undergraduate degree is in Biology and Chemistry from Wake Forest University. Between her undergraduate training and veterinary degree, she served as an assistant in a specialty/referral practice in Surgery, Neurology, and Ophthalmology.
After obtaining her degree in veterinary medicine, Dr. Jarvinen completed a rotating internship in Small Animal Surgery, Medicine, and Emergency at the Angell Animal Medical Center, in Boston, MA.

At Angell, she developed a deep commitment to Emergency Medicine. While working in Emergency and Specialty Referral Centers, she realized that Urgent Care remains in most areas an underserviced need, including in the Alexandria, VA district. To meet the need for Emergency Medicine in the region, she decided to launch EMMAvet – Veterinary Urgent Care to provide state-of-the-art care to the area’s cherished dogs and cats.

Dr. Jarvinen is the daughter of Foreign Service parents. She and her older sister, Lilian, began their lives in Hong Kong, Togo, and Morocco, after which time the family moved for their school years to Fairfax, VA.

EMMAvet (EMergent Medical Attention) is named after one of her own dogs, Emma (a somewhat eccentric hound you might meet at the clinic). Her other precious pet is Jaildog, a little hound mix found on the streets of Tennessee during a spay/neuter clinic. Jaildog had been raised by inmates, hence her name.

Dr. Jarvinen and her husband, Mike, spend as much of their time as possible outdoors with their two dogs, and they enjoy traveling the world as often as possible.

Mika

Client Service Representative

Mika is customer service representative who has worked in customer service for over 10 years. Shamika is married with 2 daughters and a fat cat named Rigby. She enjoys spending time with her cat, and she loves hiking and reading.

Ashlyn

Licensed Veterinary Nurse

Ashlyn was raised in a small town in Pennsylvania. Her love of animals began while she volunteered at a therapeutic riding center. Following graduation from Wilson College in 2014, with a bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine, Ashlyn joined a busy Emergency and Referral Hospital as an ICU technician. Ashlyn’s passions include caring for the critically ill, playing games with family and friends, and going to the park with her dog, Captain. Ashlyn is thrilled to be working at EMMAvet with such a passionate team.

Hannah

Licensed Veterinary Nurse

Hannah grew up in Hagerstown, Maryland, where she was always surrounded by pets, including dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, mice, and rats. With her bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine, Hannah started working in a referral center as an ICU technician. She enjoys hiking, reading, writing her first novel, and snuggling with her dog, Mason. She is passionate about emergency care and is excited to be part of EMMAvet’s compassionate and caring team.

Mike

Back Office Guy

Mike was born and raised in Northern Virginia. He and Dr. Jarvinen met when they were just in middle school, and they share a passion for helping others. Mike’s history is in administration and management, and he spent five years working at a school for children with special needs. You may find Mike helping out around the practice, bringing Emma and Jaildog and baby Eszti to/from, or hanging around making people laugh. We love Mr. Mike!

Gennifer

Client Service Representative, Office Manager

Gennifer grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and relocated to Maryland almost 20 years ago. She has over ten years of experience in emergency and general veterinary practice. An avid animal rescuer, she's fostered hundreds of rescue dogs. She lives at home with her husband and their four rescue dogs: Toby, Dharma, Captain, and Morgan. During her free time, Gennifer loves beachcombing, photography, creating sea glass crafts, volunteering for a local rescue, and of course, fostering dogs. Gennifer is thrilled to be part of EMMAvet's team!

Ashleigh

Ashleigh V. Fairfield, LVT, CCRP, VTS (Physical Rehabilitation)

A Northern Virginia native, Ashleigh began her veterinary career in 2004 as an assistant for a small animal practice in Herndon, Virginia. It was there that she developed a love for nursing care and medicine and went on to earn her degree as a Licensed Veterinary Technician from the Northern Virginia Community College Veterinary Technology program in 2009.
Shortly before graduating, Ashleigh began working at a large referral practice and became interested in rehabilitation medicine. In 2012 she graduated from the University of Tennessee's Canine Rehabilitation Program, a curriculum in which veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and physical therapy professionals become educated in veterinary rehabilitation. In 2018, she took her devotion to rehabilitation a step further by becoming one of only two veterinary nurses to pass the Academy of Physical Rehabilitation Veterinary Technicians (APRVT) exam earning her Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) certification in Physical Rehabilitation.
Ashleigh has a cat named Michael Keaton and an Ibizan Hound named Ferdinand (the bull)!

Jessie

LVT, CCRP, CVPP

Jessie was born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley. She has harbored a love for animals since a young age, starting with her family’s semi-feral cat, Leroy. Jessie received her degree in Veterinary Technology from Blue Ridge Community College and became a Licensed Veterinary Technician in 2011.

Jessie started her career in small animal practice where she developed a love for rehabilitation and pain management. She received her certification as a canine rehabilitation practitioner from the University of Tennessee in 2016 and worked in a large referral practice seeing rehabilitation cases for 4 years. In 2019, Jessie also completed the curriculum from the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management and received her certification as a veterinary pain practitioner (CVPP).

In addition to rehabilitation and pain management, Jessie’s special interests include Fear Free veterinary visits (www.fearfreepets.com) and managing fear, anxiety and stress in the hospital setting and at home. She is a Fear Free Certified Professional and is committed to providing comfortable, cooperative, low stress veterinary care in the urgent care setting.

Jessie lives in Northern Virginia with her partner, Jeff, and their hoard of pets. Together they have 3 dogs (Neena, Kirby and Ryuk), 3 cats (Reeses, Elektra, and Natalia), and ball python (Ikora). Jessie enjoys yoga, hiking, and kayaking with Ryuk, and competes in C-WAGS Canine Nosework trials.