Dr. Derakhshan or Dr. “D” was raised in Northern Virginia and moved to Florida with her family in 2003.  She attended the University of Florida where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science and then continued on to Graduate from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014 with her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. After graduating, Dr. D completed a 1-year small-animal rotating internship at VCA Newark Animal hospital in Delaware.  From there, longing to be closer to the mountains again, she moved back to Virginia and worked at an Emergency Veterinary Hospital for a few years before ultimately finding her passion with General Practice. After several years in Virginia Dr. D made the big decision to move to her Happy Place – the mountains of Western NC. A long-time visitor of the mountains of North Carolina,  Dr. D decided she wanted to make this area her forever home. Following her dreams, she recently moved to Murphy, NC with her partner Justin, and their 4 fur-babies Arnold, an 8-year-old miniature pincher, Bitty, an 8-year-old 2- legged chihuahua, Charlie, a 5-year-old pomeranian mix and Weanie, a senior all black domestic short hair cat. Dr. D’s special interests in the veterinary field include preventative medicine, internal medicine and soft tissue surgery.  Outside of the veterinary field Dr. D enjoys a variety of hobbies including hiking, mountain biking, traveling, and she is looking forward to adding kayaking to the list!  Dr. D enjoys providing preventative care and education to her patients and clients. She considers being part of the human-animal bond a privilege in her profession. She is very excited to be a new associate veterinarian at Murphy Animal Clinic and is looking forward to building new relationships with her clients.