could work hard enough to overcome any deficit. “I told her that if
I followed her recommendation I couldn’t graduate on time, and I
didn’t have the money to go to summer school. We went back and
forth because she had to sign off on my classes. Finally she agreed
but, before she did, she said, “I just want to let you know that I’ll
see you before you get out of school.” I thought, “What did she
mean by that?’”
Mrs. Exum turned out to be one of the highest-ranked professors
in the Biology department, one whom Dr. Giles would have to face
over and over. “I thought ‘Oh my gosh,’ I just challenged one of the
most important people in my life. I knew I was going to have to
work really hard once I found out who she was, but I accepted the
challenge. I had her classes four times I think, and I worked hard
and got A’s.”
In his junior year, Dr. Giles was passing her in the hallway when
she called him over. “She said, ‘I want to apologize to you. You’ve
taught me that you can’t judge an individual by where they’ve gone
to school,’” recalled Dr. Giles. Mrs. Exum then asked if he’d be
interested in being the president of the new honor society at TSU.
He agreed, in exchange for a letter of recommendation to Meharry
Medical College.
While studying at TSU, Dr. Giles met his wife and future mother
of his children, Bessie Rice. The two were married on July 7, 1979,
in Chattanooga, Tenn., and soon had a son, Eugene Giles, Jr.
He began at Meharry, and tuition, perhaps unsurprisingly, doubled between his freshman and sophomore years. To pay for school,
he accepted a public health scholarship which required him to
practice in an underserved area after graduation. He spent three
years at Hubbard Hospital in Nashville and the Murfreesboro VA
during Internal Medicine residency. Then the couple moved with
their young son to Louisville, which had a qualifying public health
location at Park Duvalle Community Health Center.
The plan wasn’t to stay long. Dr. Giles had dreams of opening a
practice back in his home state of Mississippi and even put down a
deposit on a building. But just as they were planning to move, Bessie
was offered a teaching job by the Louisville Board of Education. “I
told her it didn’t make any sense for us to go to Mississippi having no
jobs down there. She had a job and I can work with somebody, so let’s
stay.” Their second child, Natasha, was born just a few months later.
In the late 1980s, Dr. Giles worked for a few practices. But it
wasn’t until he had a visit from his adopted father that he made the
decision to strike out on his own.
“My father came to visit while I was working. He took me outside,
I’ll never forget. He asked me where my name was on the building.
I said I was working for a friend of mine. He said, ‘There’s no such
thing as a friend. Why are you working for someone making them
rich when you can do the same thing yourself? You should be your
own boss.’ And, he went back to Mississippi. But those words stuck
with me. He reminded me that I have to walk through doors when
they open.”
Dr. Giles had received an offer about opening a practice on Dixie
Highway but turned it down at the time, as he was happy where he
was. A few years passed, and that thought of independence kept
coming back.
“One Saturday I was kind of down because I wasn’t advancing.
I was channel surfing and this
guy on television was talking
about how we let other people
steal our dreams, and how we
have to be hungry. I thought that
sounded like my dad. The light
bulb went off and I looked up
the group I’d turned down a few
years prior. They said they were
still interested, so I went through
with opening my own practice
in 1991.”
(far left) Dr. Giles' graduation from
Simmons College of KY.
With his wife Bessie on vacation.
(continued on page 38)
OCTOBER 2016
37