Dr. Kristen Baumgartner grew up in Colorado and spent her formative years riding horses and competing in dressage. She received a master's degree in toxicology and doctor of veterinary medicine from Colorado State University. She then went on to complete a small animal rotating internship at Iowa State University, where she discovered a fondness for emergency medicine. She enjoys the diversity of cases seen in emergency medicine, but her special interests are in cardiac diseases of companion animals. Dr. Baumgartner describes the best part of her job as the unique way she gets to help others. 

Dr. Baumgartner and her husband share their home with two Dobermans, a French Bulldog, and many fish. In her free time, she enjoys working in her garden, home improvement projects, aquascaping her aquariums, baking, running, and playing board games with family and friends.