UMMC graduates forge careers in military medicine

Each year, students at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine take the next step in their journey from classroom learning to clinical practice through the National Resident Matching Program and specialized military match opportunities. 

For two UMMC graduates and one current fourth-year medical student, the military match represents a new chapter — one that combines a commitment to medicine with a commitment to serve. 

Dr. Nick Gaouette, a 2024 graduate, and Dr. Joseph “JoJo” Dodd, a 2022 graduate, are now building careers in military medicine while caring for patients, developing their skills and preparing for roles that extend beyond the traditional practice of medicine. Fourth-year medical student Michael Whelan hopes to soon follow a similar path. 

Together, their journeys offer a closer look at what happens before and after the military match and how UMMC students and graduates are preparing to serve both their patients and their country. 

For Gaouette, the decision to join the military was an opportunity to continue generations of service woven into his family’s story. 

A fourth-generation Navy servicemember, Gaouette grew up believing he would one day follow in the footsteps of the family members who came before him. He was inspired by the men in his family who wore the uniform, including his grandfather, who served during World War II and survived the sinking of his ship, and his great-grandfather, a Syrian immigrant who supported the 3rd Infantry Division in Europe. 

Gaouette, a Hattiesburg native, dreamed of flying planes and serving in the military like the generations before him. But at age 13, during a routine eye appointment, that dream came to an abrupt halt when he learned he lacked depth perception — a vision requirement that prevented him from pursuing the military career he had imagined. 

“What that meant for me was significant because that meant I could not do the job I had dreamed of doing until that point,” Gaouette said. 

Gaouette said his dreams were crushed, but the way the news was delivered also left a lasting impression. He recalled the doctor’s lack of empathy while delivering the diagnosis to a child struggling to process the loss of a lifelong dream. 

“That doctor was incredibly callous and unfeeling as he delivered that information to a kid who is literally crying in his office,” Gaouette said. “It took me several years after that, but I eventually thought, ‘I can do a little better for people than he did.’” 

That experience ultimately helped shape Gaouette’s path toward medicine. While he could no longer serve in the way he had originally envisioned, he eventually found another way to fulfill the same call through military medicine. 

During his third year of medical school at UMMC, Gaouette revisited the idea of serving in the military. Although he found medical school fulfilling, he said he felt something was missing. After speaking with a recruiter and learning more about opportunities in military medicine, he realized it offered a way to combine his passion for medicine with his desire to serve. 

Gaouette joined the U.S. Navy and matched with a program after receiving his results from the Joint Graduate Medical Selection Board, the process through which military medical students are selected for residency training, in December 2024. Gaouette became active duty in June 2025 after graduating from UMMC. 

Dodd’s path to medicine and military service was less conventional. 

The Picayune native originally wanted to become a comedy writer. At 19, he dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue that dream. It did not take long for him to realize comedy was not a career for him, and he eventually returned home. 

“I think every 19-year-old should have their dreams crushed,” Dodd said. “It helps you kind of understand what is important to you and the kind of impact you want to have in the world. I didn’t know that medicine was that avenue when I went back to college after my failed dreams, but I think that failure allowed me to be open to the career of medicine.” 

After returning to Mississippi and enrolling at Mississippi State University, Dodd envisioned a new career for himself as a Marine Corps officer. While at MSU, he took an EMT class at night in hopes of strengthening his Marine Corps officer candidate application. 

During a ride along with an ambulance service in Oktibbeha County, however, he discovered another calling: health care. 

“I went to my Marine Corps recruiter and told him I wanted to be a Marine Corps doctor,” Dodd said. “He told me it didn’t exist and gave me the Navy’s number, so that is why I joined the Navy and ultimately why I joined the military in general — to be a doctor.” 

Dodd is now in Atlanta completing his second year of emergency medicine residency at Emory University School of Medicine. His journey through military medicine has also taken him around the world, including San Diego, Hawaii and the Philippines, where he learned to care for patients in austere environments with limited resources. 

“I learned how to take care of patients when I am the only physician available, and evacuation is not guaranteed if someone does get hurt,” Dodd said. 

While in the Philippines, Dodd said he encountered medical situations ranging from deep cuts and wounds to appendicitis — and even a monkey bite. 

“We had the evening off and were in town and met a Filipino native with a monkey,” Dodd said. “A couple of the Marines were petting the monkey, and when a female Marine wanted to pet the monkey, the native declined and told her the monkey does not like women. The Marine disregarded what the native told her and lunged at the monkey and was bitten.” 

Experiences like those have taught Dodd to think quickly and adapt to the medical constraints he may encounter while serving in the military. 

Having served as an educator and mentor to Gaouette, Dodd and Whelan during their time at UMMC, Dr. Michael Mcmullan, division director for the School of Medicine, has watched each of them pursue a path that combines medicine with military service. 

“By choosing both medicine and military service, these students demonstrate a remarkable commitment to serving others,” McMullan said. “Their willingness to take on this challenge reflects the best of leadership, sacrifice and purpose.” 

While Dodd and Gaouette are now caring for patients, completing residency training and serving their country, fourth-year medical student Michael Whelan is approaching the same milestone from the other side — waiting to learn where his own commitment to medicine and military service will take him. 

As he enters his final year at the School of Medicine, Whelan is preparing for the military match in December. For now, he is experiencing the anticipation, preparation and uncertainty that come before the orders, offering a glimpse into the beginning of a journey Gaouette and Dodd have already traveled. 

Whelan,a Mississippi State University alumnus, joined the U.S. Army after learning about the Health Professions Scholarship Program, or HPSP, a military scholarship program that helps cover the cost of medical school in exchange for a commitment to serve as a military physician after training. 

Whelan first learned about the program from a friend and decided to pursue the opportunity during his first year of medical school after weighing his options. 

“I have always wanted to do something where I am helping and healing in my career,” Whelan said. “This has not been an easy journey, but it has been a real blessing to get to this point and get into medical school, and it has been a long journey, but that is why I am so passionate to help and heal people.” 

Since joining the Army, Whelan has completed military training in Oklahoma and San Antonio. He will spend part of his fourth and final year of medical school at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. 

Whelan hopes his time there will be a preview of what comes next. He hopes to match and spend the next four years continuing his medical training in Hawaii. 

For military medical students like Whelan, the wait will soon be over. Applications for the military match are due Oct. 15, with Match Day set for Dec. 9. 

Wherever the match takes him, Whelan will soon take the next step along a path Gaouette and Dodd know well — one that calls on physicians to care for patients while answering a larger call to serve.