Eight Nicholls-trained doctors share their most challenging cases
Before scrubbing in to medical school, hundreds of doctors in a number of specialties launched their careers at Nicholls. Some never would have attended college, let alone medical school, had Nicholls not existed. Others had multiple college offers but chose Nicholls because of its highly regarded pre-medicine program. Though small, the Thibodaux program has garnered an excellent reputation in the medical community for not only launching students into medical school but also preparing them to succeed once they get there.
Ask Nicholls-bred doctors about their undergraduate experience, and they mostly say the same thing — biology professors, such as Dr. Burt Wilson and Dr. Marilyn Kilgen, were demanding but encouraging, accessible and caring. Coursework in the pre-med classes, especially histology and virology, made their first year of medical school much easier for them than for class- mates from other universities.
Dr. Ernest Hansen III (BS ’87) goes as far as comparing the Nicholls pre-med experience to the NASA space shuttle launch. “There was this sense that even if someone had a menial role, they also helped launch that shuttle. At Nicholls, every professor took great pride in preparing students for where they wanted to go — to medical school and ultimately into the medical profession.”
We caught up with eight doctors in different specialties who earned their biology/pre-med degrees in various Nicholls decades. Here are the stories of their most inspiring yet challenging cases:
— Written by Stephanie Verdin, publications coordinator
This article originally appeared in the fall 2013 issue of Voila! magazine. Click here to read the entire issue.