Our Story
First Coast Veterinary Specialists (FCVS) Founder, Medical Director and Head of Surgery: W. Thomas (“Tom”) McNicholas, Jr., DVM, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons, established First Coast Veterinary Specialists at its current location in February of 2017. Serving northeast Florida and south Georgia communities, FCVS is a referral specialty center with board certified specialists in surgery and anesthesiology working in partnership with primary care veterinarians and other board certified specialists to provide advanced care from the most experienced veterinarians in the region.
Dr. McNicholas is an academically trained veterinary surgeon (Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine) with more than 18 years in an exclusive surgical setting. Board certified in veterinary surgery since 2003, Dr. McNicholas has performed countless soft tissue and oncologic procedures and in excess of 3000 TPLOs, 3000 cruciate extracapsular stabilizations, 2000 Medial Patella Luxation (MPL) stabilizations and 750 neurosurgical procedures. He also has a special interest in utilizing non-surgical and physical therapy protocols as a complement or alternative to surgery.
Dr. McNicholas is the former owner of Affiliated Veterinary Specialists and Animal ER in Jacksonville, where he practiced for more than 10 years. After selling and then departing from AVS in 2015, Dr. McNicholas established a successful consulting veterinary surgery practice, pursued advanced studies in canine physical therapy and rehabilitation, and was privileged to be a staff surgeon at Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center (DVSC), one of the oldest and largest veterinary surgical centers in the country. Dr. McNicholas returned to the First Coast in February of 2017 to establish once again a surgery-focused practice that offers First Coast residents and their pets a level of compassionate care that is unmatched in the industry, and that respects and fosters the relationship the family veterinarian has with their clients and patients.
FCVS Staff Surgeon: Megan L. Wilson, DVM, MS, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons-Small Animal, graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, followed by a rotating internship at the university and a surgical internship in Orlando, Florida. She completed her surgical residency at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she also obtained her Master of Science in Biomedical Science. Dr. Wilson enjoys all aspects of veterinary surgery. During her residency, she conducted research on weight-bearing improvement variables for dogs following TPLO surgery and on dogs with hind limb lameness, and she presented her research findings to veterinary surgeons at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons conference in Phoenix in October 2018.
FCVS Locum Surgeon: Ken Greenwood, DVM, MS, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons, was the first board certified veterinary surgeon in Atlanta and a founding veterinarian of Northlake Veterinary Surgery. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, and completed his surgical internship at Purdue University, followed by a residency and master’s degree at The University of Georgia.
In addition to providing specialized surgical care for thousands of dogs and cats at Northlake, Dr. Greenwood has provided years of pro bono surgical services for Zoo Atlanta, operating on a wide variety of exotic animals. In 2011, Dr. Greenwood obtained advanced training in raptor external skeletal fixation at University of Minnesota. He remains active in training the next generation of veterinary surgeons, having established weekly video-conference rounds between Northlake and the University of Georgia, serving as a locum professor at UGA, and mentoring and advising many surgical residents. A longtime leader in the Atlanta veterinary community, Dr. Greenwood was voted the 2006 Veterinarian of the Year by the Greater Atlanta Veterinary Medical Society. In his free time, Dr. Greenwood has traveled to the Northern and Southern poles of the world photographing and researching whales and wildlife. He remains fascinated by animals in the wild and continues to travel the seas in hopes of one day encountering the blue whale. Dr. Greenwood and his wife, Beth, have four daughters, Sarah, Anna, Bonnie, and Grace, and a clowder of cats. Fortunately for FCVS, one of Dr. Greenwood’s daughters lives right here in the First Coast, so it doesn’t take too much arm twisting to lure Dr. Greenwood down to FCVS several times throughout the year.
FCVS Consulting Anesthesiologist: With over 20 years of experience in veterinary anesthesiology, James Bailey, DVM, MS, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, has safely anesthetized everything from critically ill cats, dogs, horses and cows to manatee, elephants, ostriches, dolphins and polar bears. Dr. Bailey is the President and founder of Innovative Veterinary Medicine, Inc., a biomedical research and development firm in Gainesville, FL. He has a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Colorado State University, a Master of Science in veterinary physiology and pharmacology from The Ohio State University and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Further, he spent 11.5 years as a professor of veterinary anesthesia and analgesia at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, leading the service as service chief for five of those years. He has served in academia, industry, private practice, marine mammal field research and as a marine mammal anesthesia specialist. Dr. Bailey has a long history in managing multi-disciplinary medical and research teams. He is currently the only veterinary anesthesiologist with experience in both sea lion and dolphin anesthesia, as well as experience with the APRV and AAV modes of ventilation. At FCVS Dr. Bailey is available for consultation and direct case management (you can often find him in the the FCVS operating room) and he also provides an ongoing level of training to FCVS staff that is unmatched in the field.
