Meet Our Ophthalmology Team

Mission Of Apex Ophthalmology

At Apex Ophthalmology, we are a team. A team that enjoys coming to work each day to help our patients and our clients.

We provide the highest standard medical and surgical patient care with focus on each patients’ needs.

As a team, we are appreciated for our individual strengths. We are supported in our areas for growth – personally and professionally. We understand that good communication skills are honed, not inherited.

We treat our clients like we want to be treated – with honesty, respect, empathy and kindness.

We treat our patients like we treat our own pets – with love and gratitude – striving for the best outcome for each patient.

We value a team approach –a group of dedicated specialists is available to offer input to benefit each patient’s care.

We value our continued education by staying on top of research and advances in veterinary medicine and specifically, veterinary ophthalmology.

We give back to our profession by our commitment to training the next generation of veterinary ophthalmologists.

We give back to our community, through continuing education, availability, and service.

Apex Veterinary Specialist’s Ophthalmology services are being offered at Spry Companions, located at 7100 S. Clinton St., Centennial, CO, 80112. To schedule an appointment with our Ophthalmology team, please call (720) 810-5480.

Spry Companions
7100 S Clinton St,
Centennial, CO 80112

Meet Dr. Tanja Nuhsbaum, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVO

Dr. Tanja Nuhsbaum – Born in Englewood, Colorado, to nonnative English speakers. She has always enjoyed meeting people and loves animals. At the University of Illinois, she graduated at the top of her undergraduate class with a Bachelor of Science, in Biology. During college, she competed for the Big Ten Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championship Team, in the Pentathlon and Heptathlon. She returned to Colorado to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, at CSU. She completed four more years of advanced training at the University of Guelph, Toronto, and Colorado State University to become a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist™.

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At CSU, she was the final resident of one of the founding fathers of veterinary ophthalmology, Dr. Glenn Severin and was awarded the Clinical Resident Teaching Award two years in a row. She went on to partner in her own ophthalmology practice, in Denver, where she worked for 20 years.  She was invited to join the Apex Team, this Fall 2023, and is excited to be part of one of the first specialty out-patient practices, in Colorado. She enjoys all areas of medical and surgical ophthalmology. Dr. Nuhsbaum has 25 years of experience performing intraocular surgery with a special interest in cataract removal. She lectures at local and national conferences. Her passion is connecting with clients, providing options for care and helping patients to live their best, most comfortable lives.

Best parts of my job:

“….the one-day, post-op exam (after cataract removal surgery)….listening to tales of antics forgotten, such as :”getting toys of the bin to play”, “bringing the ball to the client”, “gazing off the porch at their domain”. Those are some of my favorite quotes about incredible patients after vision restoration with cataract removal. – Dr. Nuhsbaum

 

“My team. Watching each of us grow as people. Sharing knowledge. Training new team members. Giving and taking feedback. Having a good laugh (at ourselves). Stacie does the best impersonations for patients. She constantly cracks me up.” – Dr. Nuhsbaum

Dr. Trish Gearhart, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVO

Dr. Trish Gearhart is originally from Michigan.  She and her husband and daughter moved to Colorado in 2013 and have been enjoying all that Colorado has to offer.

Trish, always an animal lover, did not feel pulled toward veterinary medicine until later in her schooling.  During her undergraduate training at Michigan State University, she became fascinated with the biological sciences and earned her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 1986.  She then earned her PhD in Molecular Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis.  Although she loved bench research, Dr. Gearhart felt strongly that she wanted to get out of the lab and interact more with animals (her first love) and with people too. This led to a course correction in her career and she returned to Michigan State University to attend veterinary school.

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After obtaining her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1998, she worked in private general practice as a mixed equine and small animal practitioner in Michigan.  There she developed an interest in ophthalmology and returned to Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for a formal residency in Comparative Ophthalmology.  During her residency her research interest was inherited blindness in dogs and she performed award-winning research on vision testing in dogs with inherited retinal disease.

Dr. Gearhart was board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2005. She practiced at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, spent some time traveling to different areas of the country to practice, then settled in the Denver area from 2016 until last spring when she attempted an early retirement.  It seems that was premature because she missed practice and missed her clients and patients. When Dr. Nuhsbaum approached her with the prospect of joining her team and creating a practice with a culture of providing superb patient and client care, she was convinced.  Maybe someday she can REtire….again.

Dr. Gearhart has 3 horses, a dog and a colony of bees. In her off-work time she enjoys riding, needlework, reading, birding, camping and fishing.  In her work time she most enjoys educating clients and helping them help their pets.  She is constantly amazed and inspired by the dedication she sees from her clients toward their pets.

What to Expect When You Meet our Ophthalmology Team

We will listen to your concerns.

We will respect your time and your patient’s needs.

We are an extension of your primary care veterinary team. We work with your primary care team to understand your pet’s history, previous treatments and we communicate our findings and treatment plan with you and your veterinarian.

We focus on treating each patient with a team approach.

The orbit and globe are adjacent to the teeth. Eyelids are an extension of the skin. It makes sense to have Veterinary Dentistry, Dermatology, and Ophthalmology teams working together in the same location.

Board-certified cardiologists and anesthesiologists are a part of our team working to keep sedation and anesthesia as safe as possible.

Our goal is to be the preferred center for cataract surgery based on our skills, our experience, our team approach, our availability and our case outcome.

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