Tallahassee
Tallahassee
Sandeep Rahangdale, M. D. Dean, Tallahassee Regional Campus
Dad plays role of‘ devil’ s advocate’ and‘ senior resident’ as his son follows in his FSU footsteps
An inquisitive mind and love of medicine, specifically neurology, run in the family for Evan Carrigan( M. D.,’ 25) and his father, Casey Carrigan,( M. D.,’ 09), who spent his third and fourth years of medical school at the Tallahassee Regional Campus.
As the Florida State University College of Medicine celebrates its 25th anniversary, and the Tallahassee Regional Campus its 22nd, it isn’ t surprising the college is beginning to see children of alumni come up through the ranks. And, for this father-and-son duo, there is a special bond, as both are dedicating their careers to neurology— adult neurology for Casey and pediatric neurology for Evan, who graduated in May and is entering his preliminary pediatrics training at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville, followed by his child neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic and Nemours Children’ s Health, also in Jacksonville.
“ Beyond the example he has set for me as a former medical student at FSU and a currently practicing physician, my dad has also been a steady source of moral support and insight,” said Evan, who spent his final two years at the Sarasota Regional Campus.“ My dad specifically enjoys playing devil’ s advocate and opening my eyes to the alternatives. This has ultimately brought me more security in the decisions I’ ve made including career choice and specialty. For example, we both share a passion for neurologic medicine, and I know my decision to follow this path was made with abundant options in mind. We now get to have frequent conversations and discussions on interesting neurological cases, and he continues to mentor and teach me as my personal‘ senior resident.’”
It ' s the“ devil’ s advocate” role that both
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Evan and Casey found to be invaluable as Casey progressed through his academic career.
“ The role I have played from time to time has been to shake up his thinking,” Casey said.“ He knows that whatever he chooses, I am going to be right there asking,‘ What about this other thing?’ An example was his decision to study biomedical engineering( BME). I thought that was a wonderful choice, but then challenged him with,‘ You know there are easier bachelor’ s degrees if you want to go to medical school afterward.’ He responded confidently that BME was the alternate pathway for him if he chose to not go to medical school.”
Few professions move as quickly as medicine— both clinically and academically. Recognizing the 16-year difference between their medical degrees, Casey said his personal experience was vastly different than his son’ s.
“ Once in medical school, the only advice I could really give him was to study hard and constantly, be himself, take care of himself and seek wise counsel early and often,” Casey said.“ He did all of this by studying hard— there is no substitute— working on his golf game with classmates, joining a church, finding a wife in his med school class, and forming a bond with Dr. Robert Watson, who was also a mentor to me as his daughter, Mary, was my classmate. As he transitioned to third year, I advised him to enter each rotation as if he was truly considering practicing in that specialty. This served him well as he discovered many interests outside of neurology.”
As for his decision to follow in his father’ s footsteps, Evan said it was the right decision to choose FSU.
“ The mission, model and culture of FSU College of Medicine all made it a unique and favorable choice when compared to other medical schools around the country,” Evan said.“ From the beginning, the atmosphere was one of comradery and support.”
Now that Evan is a medical school graduate, Casey can look on with pride, watch Evan grow in his profession— continue to play“ devil’ s advocate” and“ senior resident”— and feel confident that they have both chosen a rewarding career.
“ It is most gratifying to see Evan happy. I know it seems intuitive that we all want our children to be happy,” Casey said.“ But it can become complicated when father and son have such a close relationship like Evan and I have. I have had to overtly challenge his decisions along the way to make sure he was choosing his path for his own reasons. In the end, it would make sense that he would go down the same path that I did because we are so similar. It is really cool that we both got an engineering degree from UF, a medical degree from FSU, and neurology training from Mayo. I can’ t wait for my former mentors at Mayo to get their hands on him and shape him into a super-neurologist; I know they are going to love him.”
Dr. Casey Carrigan and his son, soon-to-be Dr. Evan Carrigan, celebrate 2025 Match Day in March at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.