Dr Julie Wentzel was raised in Annapolis, Maryland. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and Wildlife from Virginia Tech in 1998. After a few years of assisting in veterinary clinics and working on farms, she decided to enter veterinary training and earned her DVM degree from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004.

After graduation, she completed an internship in emergency medicine in Maryland, remaining on the clinic staff at that facility for seven more years. She continued to work in emergency medicine and also as a rehabilitation and pain management veterinarian in association with a surgery specialty practice.

She was certified by IVAS in acupuncture in 2013 and as a veterinary pain practitioner and canine rehabilitation therapist in 2014. She started an apprenticeship in Western herbal medicine in 2018.