Meet Our Veterinarians
Dr. Richard J. Howard
DVM, MS
Surgery
Dr. Howard graduated from Auburn University with his D.V.M. degree in 1977, and worked for two years in small animal practice before entering a small animal surgical residency program at Kansas State University. After completing his residency and earning a Master’s degree, he continued on at the KSU Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital as an assistant professor in small animal surgery.
In the summer of 1983, Dr. Howard moved to Oregon, living in Grant’s Pass briefly before coming to Portland to establish the Animal Surgical Practice of Portland in early 1984. Dr. Howard’s surgical interest, expertise include general soft tissue reconstruction, gastrointestinal, oncologic, thoracic and orthopedic surgery. Dr. Howard studied with the late Dr. Barclay Slocum and was the first licensed surgeon to perform the TPLO procedure (1994).
Dr. Howard is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, the Portland Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association for Veterinary Research and Education.
Dr. Howard has three grown children, two boys and a girl, as well as a dog. His personal interests include running with friends and his dog, and biking.
Dr. Michael Flynn
DVM, DAVCS
Surgery
Dr. Flynn attended veterinary school at Louisiana State University from 1984-88, where he graduated 1st in his class. He then completed a one year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, followed by a 3-year residency in small animal surgery at North Carolina State University. A surgical implant that he developed during his residency is currently in widespread use in the treatment of hip dislocations. Following completion of his residency in 1992, Dr. Flynn spent the next 4 years on faculty at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, initially as a clinical instructor the first year, and subsequently as an assistant professor.
He became board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1995. Dr. Flynn left the university to enter private referral practice in Michigan in 1996, and later moved to Portland in 1999. Dr. Flynn’s surgical expertise encompasses a wide range of soft-tissue surgery, orthopedics and neurosurgery. He has particular interest and experience in the areas of oncologic and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Flynn is a member of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Portland Veterinary Medical Association. He has lectured frequently at local and national meetings. Dr. Flynn enjoys all forms of outdoor activity, and pursues his passion for fly-fishing every opportunity he gets.
Dr. Benjamin Spall
DVM, MS
Surgery
Dr. Benjamin Spall graduated from Oklahoma State University with his D.V.M. degree in 2010 and completed a small animal rotating internship at Washington State University in 2011. He then moved to Miami, Florida for a one-year surgical internship and returned to Washington State University the following year for his surgical residency and Master’s degree. After completing his residency and earning a Master’s degree, he started work at Bluepearl Oklahoma City in 2015.
Dr. Spall attributes his career choice to two things: growing up with two Newfoundland’s in Michigan and his interest in science as an undergrad. He loves being a part of the progression of surgical cases that start as fractures or lameness and end with a pain-free pet. His clinical interests include orthopedic and neurologic procedures especially fracture repair, arthroscopy and IVDD treatment.
He has given lectures at multiple national conferences, including being a recipient of the Mark Bloomberg Research Award at the Veterinary Orthopedic Society conference in 2015. He has also published a recent research paper on supraspinatus tendinopathy in the Journal of Veterinary Surgery.
Dr. Spall moved back to the Pacific Northwest in the spring of 2017 after becoming engaged to Dr. Kelly Freese who practices veterinary medicine in Seaview, Washington.
Dr. Spall’s lifestyle is active and includes boating, hiking, skiing, biking and both playing and watching sports. He also enjoys listening to music and spending time with his family and golden retriever, Waldo.
Dr. Amber McAlister
DVM, DACVIM
Internal Medicine
After earning her DVM degree from Tufts University in North Grafton, Massachusetts, Dr. Amber McAlister completed a small animal medicine and surgery internship at Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Atlanta, Georgia. She moved to Houston, Texas for her residency in small animal internal medicine at Texas Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists. Dr. McAlister became board certified in small animal internal medicine and practiced in California for several years before joining our internal medicine service at Cascade Veterinary.
Dr. McAlister considers internal medicine to be a perfect combination of intellectual challenge and personal connection with patients and families. Her particular clinical interests include diagnosis and management of endocrine, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary and nasal diseases. She loves all aspects of endoscopy, finds foreign body retrieval gratifying, and is looking forward to incorporating progressions in minimally invasive interventions into her practice soon.
Dr. McAlister loves to eat. She also likes to cook, bake, travel, and hike with her wife, her toddler and her pit bull, River, who is part of her all-black herd. Her two black cats are Pika and Mystery.
She is glad to be back in Oregon where she grew up!
Dr. Megan Nyboer
DVM
Emergency
Dr. Megan Nyboer is our Emergency Director for our new Emergency Service at Cascade Veterinary Referral Center. She has practiced as an emergency veterinarian in Oakland, California at a specialty and emergency hospital for the past 7 years. Dr Nyboer graduated from Cornell in 2009, after which she completed an emergency-focused internship in Colorado.
Dr. Nyboer’s passion lies in emergency medicine, pain management, and caring for critically ill patients. However she also enjoys surgery, cardiology, shelter medicine and feline medicine. She is also interested in veterinary pharmacology, and she strives to integrate new and useful medications into the veterinary field.
Dr. Nyboer loves to travel! During veterinary school, she worked in Sri Lanka at an elephant conservation, and in Namibia, Africa at a cheetah conservation. She has also been to Japan, Thailand, Central and South America, Fiji, and Europe. Dr. Nyboer recently bought a home in Portland, which she shares with her animal family members – 6 cats, a small Terrier, named Madison, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, named Freya. On her days off, she enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking and rock climbing, camping, yoga, and snowboarding.
Dr. Brad Johnson
DVM
Emergency & Surgery
Dr. Brad Johnson was born and raised in Georgia, earning his Bachelor and DVM degrees at the University of Georgia, in Athens. He has practiced almost exclusively in the emergency medicine and surgery arena, most recently at Dove Lewis in Portland and the Emergency Veterinary Hospital of Eugene/Springfield.
His areas of interest include soft tissue surgery, pain management, and any emergent veterinary problem. Dr. Johnson enjoys hiking, snowboarding and kayaking in his down time as well as hanging out with his son and daughter. Biscuit the Border Collie is his canine sidekick!
Dr. Jolene North
DVM
Emergency
Dr. Jolene North is a third-generation graduate of Oklahoma State University, where she received both her Bachelors in Animal Science, as well as her Doctoral degree in Veterinary Medicine. She was a trombone player in the Cowboy Marching Band and spent most of the remainder of her time working at the Tulsa Zoo. Dr. North was a recipient of the US Army Health Professions Scholarship and went on active duty military service just after graduation in 2005. Her favorite duty station during her subsequent eight years of service was at Misawa Air Base, Japan and her most fond experiences were humanitarian-aide work in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Timor Leste. Dr. Norths’ final duty station was at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ where she taught dog handlers from all branches of the military in topics ranging from canine medical basics to battlefield first aide and trauma stabilization. She was promoted to Major before leaving the military to return to more animal focused work. After leaving the Army, she moved to Phoenix, AZ and worked as a hoof-stock keeper at the Phoenix Zoo while doing relief work at area veterinary clinics, where she found a passion in emergency medicine. Dr. North practiced full time at a multi-hospital practice in Phoenix for three years before she relocated to Portland and joined the Cascade team.
Her professional interests include zoo/exotic/wildlife medicine as well as emergency medicine. Away from work, her habits include stalking new Tesla innovations, music, snowboarding, and travel of any nature (21 countries and counting!). She also enjoys exploring in her motorhome, planning epic Halloween parties, and binge-watching TV shows with her wife and their adorable Italian Greyhound, Nicky Nichols.