MEMBERS
A one-year-old Dr. Weeks
38 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
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Dr. Weeks re-examined his goal of becoming a physician.“ I told him I wanted to be a doctor but I wasn’ t sure I had what it takes. Professor Weiser said,‘ You’ re doing good work here, you should go to medical school,’ and offered to write me a letter of recommendation. To give you a sense of my mindset, I was born in 1957. I grew up in segregated neighborhoods. If you weren’ t around highly successful people, you could get the sense that those careers were not for you. So, Dr. Weiser’ s words made a big difference to me. Here’ s a man who knows what he’ s talking about, and he says I can be a physician.”
With that, Dr. Weeks kicked his career into overdrive. After graduation, he returned to Long Island for a year, passing the MCAT and applying to medical schools. Thanks to a few unique opportunities and good fortune, Dr. Weeks found himself returning to Lexington to attend the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1980. He stayed with aunts and uncles through his four years of medical school, enjoying homecooked meals and time with family. In class, he discovered a love for obstetrics and gynecology.
“ The first time you’ re in the room for a birth is, of course, really scary,” Dr. Weeks laughed.“ It’ s a new experience, and babies are a lot slipperier than you think. But, after the birth, the mom and dad are happy. Then grandparents, aunts and uncles are there. You realize what this child represents for the whole family. As the child grows up, the hopes and dreams of the family go with it.”
As medical school neared completion, Dr. Weeks applied for military scholarships with both the Navy and Army. He was accepted and soon packed his bags for the Naval Hospital in Oakland, Calif.
After a year-long internship, residents are typically deployed for what is called an“ operational tour.” For Dr. Weeks, that meant time aboard the USS Ogden sailing through the Pacific.“ I flew out to the Philippines and was stationed there for a couple weeks, then sailed towards Hawaii and back to the US. On the ship were mostly healthy people. Most of what you do is basic medicine, public health, and making sure vaccinations are up to date. That can be difficult, because people are sometimes determined to not be vaccinated,” Dr. Weeks said.
He’ d met the woman who would one day be his wife, but Dr. Weeks didn’ t yet know it. Brenda was a nurse at the Navy Hospital Oakland. They went on a date and got along, but he was shipping off.
“ Brenda had gotten to Oakland a year ahead of me. She’ d lived in
Dr. Weeks, his sister( Nanette), mom( Edna) and brother( Mervyn).
Houston and nursed her dad while he was ill. My sense was that she was emotionally exhausted and decided to join the Navy. I found myself thinking about her a lot,” Dr. Weeks reminisced.“ I ended up proposing halfway through my year aboard the ship.”
In his naval uniform.
They were married and stayed in Oakland while Dr. Weeks completed his residency. Their first son, Dexter, arrived as they were packing for his next assignment: Okinawa, Japan. Stationed at Camp Lester and working at the Naval Hospital Okinawa, Dr. Weeks worked as a general gynecologist on base. Brenda and Dexter followed three months later.
After two years abroad, they came back to the US so that Dr. Weeks could enter a Maternal / Fetal Medicine fellowship at UC Irvine and Long Beach Memorial Hospital.“ I wanted a better command of ultrasounds and looking for fetal birth defects,” he said.“ We didn’ t do much of that during my time as a resident. Premature birth was another topic I wanted to pursue.”
Dr. Weeks’ next plan was to move back to Lexington to practice and teach.“ I had done well there. It was home, and I knew I didn’ t want to raise kids in a big city,” he said. However, upon interviewing at both UK and UofL,“ I found myself liking Louisville more. Their Maternal-Fetal Medicine department was much stronger, and it had a bit more of a metropolitan feel.” Dr. Weeks