WKU News

The UK College of Medicine Bowling Green campus opened in 2018, the result of a partnership between WKU, UK and The Medical Center. Now the first graduating class is making history.

WKU’s Amy Bingham profiles one of the fourth-year students in this week’s View from the Hill.

“They are just immensely proud. I get a little choked up.”

WKU graduate Dixi Secula can’t help but get choked up as she completes the first phase of her medical school journey.

“It feels great.  It’s just crazy to think that I’m here.”

She and 25 of her peers make up the first graduating class of the UK College of Medicine Bowling Green campus.

“I think just all the years of preparation and seeing this first class go all the way through over the last four years, it just kind of hit me Friday.”

In his remarks last week, Associate Dean Todd Cheever talked about the leap of faith this first class took in the summer of 2018.

“When they interviewed, we were actually housed next door in the WKU Health Sciences Complex, so for many of them who interviewed early we would point over here in this direction and say, see that mound of dirt, we promise you there will be a state-of-the-art medical school facility there and they came.”

No one could have predicted their third-year clinical rotations would coincide with a worldwide pandemic.

“There was a lot of quarantining on my part which kind of makes it harder when you’re trying to go to clinical sights and studying for exams.”

The class also sprang into action after the tornadoes.

“Some of us went and did like the search and rescue with some of the EMS people.”

“Just the work they’ve done in the last four years, they’ve shown what amazing leaders and physicians they’re going to be.”

Marking another first, the med students recently “matched” with their next assignment in a gathering in downtown Bowling Green.

“I matched here at UK Bowling Green campus in OBGYN. I will be staying here for the next four years then hopefully will either stay in Bowling Green or go to a rural communities and practice in OB.”

And that is ultimately the mission of the UK Medical School Bowling Green campus -- training physicians in Kentucky for Kentucky.

“We say to them often, you know regardless of where you train we hope you’ll think about your Kentucky roots and come home and practice.”

The official graduation ceremony will be on UK’s main campus on May 14 at which time the students will officially be referred to as doctor.