Carlos L. Aragon
DVM, DACVS-SA, Board Certified in Veterinary Surgery – Small Animal
After early acceptance into veterinary medical school at the age of 19, Dr. Aragon earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado. While at CSU, he co-founded the first Student Association of Veterinary Surgeons and was elected Vice-President of his veterinary class.
Dr. Aragon knew early on he wanted to pursue a career as a board-certified veterinary surgeon which requires several additional years of schooling so following graduation, he completed a general rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia. Thereafter, he completed a surgery internship at Affiliated Veterinary Specialists (AVS) and then a clinical instructorship at the University of Georgia where he taught surgery to veterinary students while performing research and publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Veterinary Surgery Journal and the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association). Dr. Aragon concluded his surgical training by completing a 3-year surgery residency at MedVet Medical and Cancer Center for Pets in Columbus, Ohio.
His area of research interests and publications include cranial cruciate ligament (equivalent to the human ACL) surgery, wound management, cancer surgery, arthritis management and veterinary applications of evidence-based medicine. Dr. Aragon is board-certified in veterinary surgery and his 13 years of education leading to this board-certification has provided him a special expertise in orthopedic surgery and fracture treatment, cancer surgery, abdominal surgery, spine and herniated disk surgery, minimally invasive surgery (arthroscopy and laparoscopy), thoracic surgery and wound management. Dr. Aragon enjoys presenting at continuing education forums, which have included the regional veterinary conferences, the Veterinary Orthopedic Society annual meeting and the American College of Veterinary Surgeon annual symposium.
Dr. Aragon partnered with Dr. Mackenzie in 2011 to unify AVS in the Jacksonville, Florida region and shortly thereafter expanded their clinics to a third and fourth location in Gainesville and Daytona Beach, Florida. Six years later Affiliated Veterinary Specialists partnered with BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital where Dr. Aragon became chief of surgery and medical director of the Orange Park medical center.
In early 2021 and in part due to the pandemic, Dr. Aragon saw the emergent need of providing veterinary specialty care to our regional communities hence he made the decision, along with Dr. Mackenzie, to pursue his primary passion of building specialty hospitals and creating the best patient care teams who provide second-to-none pet care and client service.
Allied Veterinary Specialists (AVS) was born based on this vision of inspiring one another to raise the standard of care for our animal family members. In mid 2021, Allied Veterinary Specialty Clinics opened up three locations in Brunswick, Georgia and Tallahassee and Daytona Beach, Florida with the ultimate mission of empowering medicine and operations as a united team to provide the best care and patient experience for pets while harnessing an exemplary teamwork environment.