Cover Story by Casey L . Penn
Danny Wilkerson , MD
Get to Know Your 2021-2022 AMS President
Sue Ellen Wilkerson and DANNY WILKERSON , MD
As a small child in Rogers , Arkansas , Danny Wilkerson learned early on that education is invaluable , that he wanted to be a doctor , and – incidentally – how to milk a cow .
All these years later , the new AMS President and MD resides with his wife Sue Ellen in Little Rock but still has cattle on a farm in Rogers . “ I have come full circle ,” reflected Dr . Wilkerson of his current life and returning to the lessons of his boyhood .
The youngest of three children , the future Dr . Wilkerson was taught to take school seriously . “ My father always said an education was something that no one could take from you ,” he recalled . He listened to that advice , graduating valedictorian from Rogers High School before going on to the University of Arkansas ( Fayetteville ) to earn a degree in chemistry . Medical school was his goal all along , though it took a little bit of waiting to get there . “ I didn ’ t get accepted right out of college , so I went to graduate school in chemistry . I did not finish that master ’ s program , however , since I was accepted to medical school . Interestingly , I accepted a job as a quality control chemist at Arkansas Nuclear One just weeks before I found out I got into medical school . I had to call and quit the job before I started . It would have been phenomenal , but not nearly so as a career in medicine .”
The Path to Choosing Medicine and a Specialty
Dr . Wilkerson ’ s choice of medicine as a career stemmed greatly from the influence of his family ’ s physician , John Clower , MD . “ Since I was a small child , he was a role model I aspired to emulate ,” recalled Dr . Wilkerson . “ He was always taking care of patients with caring and compassion and , to me , seemed to know everything . I asked him one time how he remembered everything that he needed to know . He pointed to his bookshelves and said , ‘ I can ’ t . That ’ s what books are for . I ’ m always learning something .’ I decided that was something I wanted to do : lifelong learning , taking care of others .”
Dr . Wilkerson ' s choice of a specialty came much later – during his third year of medical school . Like many students , he struggled to find the right fit . That all changed when he started his anesthesiology rotation . “ I remember my first day on the rotation like it was yesterday ,” he said . “ I walked into the operating room , saw what the anesthesia resident was doing , and fell in awe . I left that day looking forward to the next day .
“ As a senior medical student , I did a month of anesthesia and it confirmed my desire to do a residency in anesthesia . The senior level residents all were mentors , but my biggest influence in choosing anesthesiology was Dola S . Thompson , MD , the chair of the Department
6 • The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society www . ArkMed . org