Darian Brillon, DVM

Darian grew up in a small town in North Idaho just outside of Coeur d’Alene. After graduating high school, she attended the University of Great Falls in central Montana on a soccer and academic scholarship where she graduated with a Bachelor's in Biology and a minor in Chemistry in 2017. While being a full-time student, resident assistant, and college athlete, Darian volunteered at two different veterinary clinics servicing cats, dogs, and horses which further solidified her decision to apply to veterinary school. After taking a gap year, she completed her veterinary degree at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine (Go Cougs!!) and graduated in 2022. While attending WSU, Darian worked in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital pharmacy and Emergency and Critical Care department. Shortly after graduation, Darian and her dog made the big move to follow her boyfriend to his home island of Oahu and started working with the amazing staff at Aloha Affordable in 2022.

Darian wanted to be a veterinarian since she was very young and never could see herself doing anything else. She grew up loving puzzles and always viewed veterinary medicine as puzzles waiting to be solved. Her favorite part about this field is building a strong connection with her patients and their owners, creating a level of trust that allows her to be an advocate for her patients, and doing what she can to help those in need.

Darian knew she was in the right profession when she had patients walk out the front doors of the WSU vet teaching hospital on the road to recovery who weren’t expected to make it back home to their families. The connections she made with these patients and owners will live with her forever. In addition to that, having owners tell her that they felt heard and respected during their interactions with her also verified that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

Darian’s special interests include neurology, chronic kidney disease, fear-free practice, and client education. Neurology piqued her interest all through vet school due to the ability to diagnose many patients just by watching them and her childhood cat of 19 years taught her everything there is to know about chronic kidney disease. Darian is fear-free certified to allow her patients to feel as stress-free as possible while under her care, which in turn makes their owners less stressed about bringing their fur babies to the vet. She also believes that taking the time to educate clients on various components of veterinary medicine helps them feel fully involved in the conversation, aids in their decision-making, as well as helps them provide their beloved pets with a long, happy, and healthy life.

When not at work, Darian enjoys spending time fishing with her boyfriend Steffen, kayaking, photography, and lounging around with her husky/pitty mix Kaia and new kitten Bean.