Dr. Costa was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to Texas at a young age. As a daughter of physicians, she developed an interest for medicine but realized her passion was to help animals. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M University in 2002. Then, she moved to Southern California to attend vet school at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona and graduated in 2007. Her interests in small animal and exotics medicine include surgery and dentistry. Dr. Costa has been fortunate to volunteer with zoo and wildlife animals in South Africa and Costa Rica, the Santa Ana Zoo and the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in Rosamond, CA. In 2014, she became certified in veterinary medical acupuncture and believes in combining multiple modalities to better serve her patients’ needs.