Dr. Denise McDuffy, UMMC medical school and residency alumnus, shares memories of her time at UMMC and what she’s up to now.
Tell us about you.
I was born and raised in Jackson, MS. I attended Spelman College in Atlanta, GA as a psychology/pre-med major. I returned home to Jackson upon graduation to begin medical school at UMMC. My initial plan was to become a psychiatrist. After my first year of medical school, I completed an observership in a psychiatry clinic and realized that was not the specialty for me. I spent the next year worrying that I was not going to find a specialty that I loved. However, that soon changed when I started my third year internal medicine rotation. I had a great time during that rotation and learned so much. I had excellent teachers in Dr. Stephen LeBlanc and Dr. Joel Shores. After completion of medical school, I remained at UMMC to complete my internal medicine residency. After residency, I stayed at UMMC for an additional year as a hospitalist.
Where are you now and what are you doing?
I live in Madison and I am working as a nocturnist at Baptist Medical Center. I have always been a night owl so this position works great for me.
What do you miss most about UMMC?
What I miss most about UMMC are the people. I believe UMMC, the medicine department in particular, does a good job of fostering camaraderie. During my residency, there was always someone willing to help and answer questions. I will forever be thankful for UMMC because it was during my time there that I met people that I know will be lifelong friends.
Share a memory or more of your time at UMMC.
I have so many great memories of my time at UMMC, such as having Dr. Bennett as the boss during my first boss rounds as an intern (I was terrified); the golf and bowling tournaments, and being on green medicine at the VA and pranking orange medicine by “decorating” their team room (see photo).
One funny story I remember involves my twin sister. For a little background, my twin sister worked as a nurse on 2 North. Although we are technically not identical, we look a lot alike and often get mistaken for one another. One day we happened to share a patient. When I walked in the room, the patient appeared noticeably confused. When I asked what was wrong, he responded with “haven’t you been my nurse all night?” I informed him that I was his doctor but that my twin sister had been his nurse the night before but he was still somewhat skeptical. Luckily my sister had not left for the day and we were able to go into the patient’s room to convince the patient that we were in fact two separate people.
Progress Notes 