Dr. Whittle started on the path of veterinary medicine at age 8 when his family’s German Shepherd died of heartworm disease. He chose that path because he wanted to teach people how to better care for their animals to prevent needless pain, suffering and death. He had some great early mentors including Drs. Donald Loden and Rebecca Conrad who had started a Veterinary Explorer Post. Within 6 months he was the only member who still wanted to be a veterinarian and Drs. Loden and Conrad hired him to work part time at their clinic. Bruce was accepted to Northeast Missouri State University as a biology major. He was fortunate to be asked to manage the sheep flock which put him in contact with his next major mentor, Dr. David Moore, a local veterinarian in Kirksville with a deep interest in sheep medicine. Bruce then was accepted into the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri after 3 years of undergraduate education. He met his future wife there. He had a couple other great mentors during preceptorship opportunities, Dr. Leslie Wade from Russell Springs, Kentucky and Dr. Wayne Barcus from Menominie, Wisconsin. Bruce and Gayla, a classmate, were married two weeks prior to graduation and decided to move to Trenton, Missouri two weeks after graduation to fulfill a need for veterinary care in the area. They established Honey Creek Veterinary Hospital near Trenton after purchasing two acres from a local farmer and constructing a building. They have two sons, Brandon and Wyatt, who were over-exposed to veterinary medicine from an early age and chose to pursue other career pathways but are much loved nonetheless! Dr. Whittle became interested in equine dentistry within a couple years and continues to become even more fascinated with teeth as time goes on. He began teaching equine dentistry workshops through the American Association of Equine Practitioners in 2009 and has taught 32 workshops at 18 different veterinary colleges across the United States. After becoming chair of the MVMA Equine Committee, he helped establish the MVMA Fall Equine Dentistry Seminar and Wet Lab which has trained scores of veterinarians how to provide better equine dentistry services. This led him to another great mentor and friend, Dr. Dennis Rach, who is also passionate about teaching about equine dentistry. Dr. Whittle has also volunteered to help instruct junior small animal dentistry labs at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine since 2016 with Dr. Richard Meadows another great mentor and friend. Dr. Whittle has served on the MVMA board as a delegate as well as serving as an officer. He has been very involved in scope of practice issues, especially regarding equine dentistry, in Missouri as well as across the United States as chair of the AAEP Welfare and Public Policy Advisory Council. Dr. Whittle is a member and elder in Immanuel Lutheran Church. He was a long-time member and part-time president of the North Central Missouri Fair Board. He has been recognized with the Dean’s Impact Award, MU-CVM Alumni of the Year Award, a University of Missouri Faculty-Alumni Award and was also honored with the MVMA Veterinarian of the Year Award in 2022. He is grateful for a profession that has given him so much and is thankful for the many great colleagues, past, present and future, who have helped him along his pathway in veterinary medicine. He has been blessed to have so many friends among the profession that have encouraged him to become more involved. His overarching goal is to be a better veterinarian tomorrow than he is today.