Mary Katherine Kearce sat on the floor with her young students for the afternoon.

“If you're a tightrope walker, what do you have to have?” the fourth-year medical student at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, holding out her arms like a circus performer, asked the collection of children at the Greenwood-LeFlore Library.

“Balance!” said Kylei Jackson.

“Yes,” chimed in Dr. Susan Buttross, UMMC professor of pediatrics and medical director of the Center for the Advancement of Youth, “and you can't have balance without the cerebellum.” She pointed to the corresponding part on a model of a brain she passed to the kids, getting oohs and ahhs from the elementary-school audience.

Neal Boone, like Kearce, a fourth-year medical student, fielded questions and distributed worksheets.

The brainy lesson was food for thought for about 50 children who attended Summer Food Rocks, a program volunteers from UMMC ranging from physicians to students help operate.

Over the past three years as a University of Mississippi Medical Center psychiatry resident, Dr. Chaz Richardson has seen a plethora of patients who cope with prescription or “street” drug addictions.

“Addiction is one of those things in Mississippi that is prevalent, but nobody wants to talk about it or treat it,” Richardson said. 

In a state that's short on psychiatrists and addiction specialists, Richardson and other fourth-year psychiatry residents hope to give better care to patients through additional training at the nationally acclaimed Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Hattiesburg. A new affiliation between UMMC and Pine Grove is allowing residents to gain hands-on experience in addiction treatment not currently included in the Medical Center's psychiatry programs, said Dr. Scott Rodgers, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.

As a wide receiver in the NFL, Nathaniel I. “Nate” Hughes II knew it would take years to master his craft and compete with the best.

He also knew that if he made the right moves, kept his shoulders squared and his mind focused on his route, he would reach his ultimate goal: medical school. 

To Hughes, who spent years wearing, among other colors, the teal and gold of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Honolulu blue of the Detroit Lions, the shade that matters most is the white of his coat, the one he donned last August as a member of the medical school class of 2019. 

“As an NFL player, he didn't let the limelight get him off track, and I find that extraordinary,” said Dr. Claude Brunson, professor of anesthesiology, senior advisor to the vice chancellor for external affairs and a member of the admissions committee that considered Hughes' medical school application.

“The committee knew he would have a lot of experience and maturity to offer,” said Brunson, who has helped vet applicants for about six years. “There was not much doubt that he would be a good addition to the class and a very fine physician.

“For my term, he's the first NFL player in medical school here that I'm aware of. We always look for a student who will add something different to the mix, and certainly he will do that.”

Named as one of the Top 50 Greatest Football Players at his alma mater, Alcorn State University, in 2014, Hughes didn't grasp the scope of his potential until he was a senior in college.

“I was headed to the offensive coordinator's office one day,” he said, “when two NFL scouts walked out. I asked the coach who those guys were there for. He said, 'They were here for you.'”

Various sources, including the NFL, report that only 1.6 percent of college football players make it to the pros. In in the end, Hughes was not drafted. But after impressing some teams during tryouts at a rookie mini-camp, he was tempted with a free-agent contract from the Cleveland Browns. 

He succumbed. “But I told my daddy it didn't matter how much money I made, I still wanted to go to medical school,” Hughes said.

More than 50 current Medical Center faculty will begin the 2016-2017 academic year with a promotion in rank, newly granted tenure, or both. Faculty are listed alphabetically, by school, in rank order of professor with tenure, professor, associate professor with tenure and associate professor. To view a printable version of this list click here.

The Medical Center is proud to acknowledge those employees who will celebrate service anniversaries this week.

A number of interesting events is scheduled for the upcoming weeks at the Medical Center.