Dr. Donna was born in Arlington, Virginia.  As the daughter of a military officer, she spent time growing up in several areas of Virginia, Maryland and Texas.  While growing up in both suburban and rural areas, she surrounded herself with as many animals as her family would allow.  Dr. McWilliams began attending Virginia Tech in 1989 and found human behavior to be as fascinating as animal behavior.  She completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 1993, and a Master’s Degree in Psychology (Radford University) in 1995.  In 2002, she achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian by completing her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Virginia Tech.  She spent her first year practicing both large and small animal medicine in rural Southwest Virginia.

        In 2003, Dr. McWilliams, her husband, and their 4-legged children (3 cats, 2 dogs) left the mountains of Virginia for the beaches of Florida.  When Dr. McWilliams is not practicing high-quality small animal medicine and surgery, she and her husband like to enjoy all that the Tampa Bay/Central Florida area has to offer.  Their interests include sports of any kind (both attending and participating), social/charity organizations, and of course, spending time with their 4-legged children, and friends.