Dr. Erika Sox Burns

Dr. Erika Sox earned her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees from University of California Davis. Following a one-year internship at Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego, Dr. Sox went on to complete residency training at Cornell University and achieved board certification in the specialty of Small Animal Internal Medicine in 2009. She practiced in the San Francisco Bay Area for two years before relocating to Honolulu, Hawaii in 2010, becoming the first board-certified internal medicine specialist to practice on the island of O`ahu. In 2012, she co-founded Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center of Hawaii, the first facility of its kind in the State of Hawaii, where she has continued to practice ever since. She served as medical director at VERC from 2012 until 2022.

Dr. Sox has represented the island of O`ahu on the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association Board of Delegates since 2014 and is an active supporter of several animal welfare organizations in her community. Having witnessed many pet owners confronted with the agonizing decision of economic euthanasia throughout her career, Dr. Sox recognized the need for an organization like FACE in Hawaii. She and her husband, also a veterinarian, partnered with FACE in 2020 to establish a successful, independently-funded Hawaii pilot program to fulfill this need. Dr. Sox joined the FACE Board of Directors in 2023 to lend support to the organization’s life-saving efforts within San Diego County as well as to expand its reach to Hawaii and other communities. Dr. Sox and her husband share two daughters, two rescue Golden retrievers, and two cats.