To Teach Their Own

Nicholas Goodhope, M.D., PharmD, Infectious Disease, may be newly hired at Monument Health, but he’s not new to Rapid City Hospital, nor is he new to the area. A Sturgis local, Dr. Goodhope always wanted to practice medicine and he always wanted to do so in the Black Hills.

His homecoming is a matter of well-laid plans coming to fruition. 

His return, though, brings a unique and increasingly common situation. Dr. Goodhope was once under the indirect tutelage of Matthew Simmons, M.D., FAAN, Neurologist at Rapid City Hospital and Associate Dean for University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine.

“Clinical training is hands-on at the bedside in various clinical settings around the state of South Dakota. We have a campus here, so we have up to 15 students per year for two years. Some of them are from the Rapid City area, some of them are from elsewhere. And I oversee their educational program,” says Dr. Simmons.

Dr. Goodhope is a graduate of that program and, after further training and education in Boston and Minneapolis, he now comes back to Monument Health as a colleague to Dr. Simmons.

That’s the point, Dr. Simmons points out. “That idea of staying here as graduates of University of South Dakota is a really critical piece of our mission. Just recently, I looked at leadership at Monument Health, for example – medical staff leaders, department chairs, members of the board – and our graduates are represented in all of those areas. Our students have come back and taken leadership roles, which have been critical to the health system’s success,” says Dr. Simmons. 

Dr. Goodhope is an example par excellence of that mission, as even in medical school he developed an interest in instruction. “Nick’s got a pharmacology background on top of his medical degree, so we put him to work a little bit in terms of assisting students that might need a little extra help in certain areas. So he did some teaching himself,” beams Dr. Simmons. 

Indeed, teaching is something that could unfold as part of Dr. Goodhope’s long-term plans. “Clinical practice, education and research are kind of like the triumvirate of medicine. And I really have a passion for clinical work and education.” Dr. Goodhope says.

Part of that teaching component may come through an upcoming pipeline program with the goal of reaching middle or high school students interested in pursuing a medical career. Although still in the very early planning stages, perhaps the program will provide the opportunity for Dr. Goodhope and Dr. Simmons’ relationship to reach an apotheosis wherein the student who became the colleague will also pay that experience forward to the next generation in kind.

Story: Kory Lanphear
Photos: Bob Slocum