Page 28 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2017

PEOPLE new orleanian at heart
Making Home
South Mississippi Surgeons, Nicholas “Nick” Fayard, M.D.
story by Susan Ruddiman photos courtesy of South Mississippi Surgeons
As with many people, Nicholas John “Nick” Fayard, M.D., was reshaped by the impact of Hurricane Katrina more than 11 years ago. He had plans to stay in New Orleans after
he finished medical school, but that unexpected curve in the road sent him in another direction. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is his home now, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He practices as a general surgeon with South Mississippi Surgeons.
Fayard grew up in St. Bernard Parish just a few miles east of New Orleans. “I was one of those people who never wanted to leave. The New Orleans area has the
highest retention of people who are born there
and stay,” he said.
He received his undergraduate degree
from Loyola University in New Orleans. He was approaching his third year in medical school at Louisiana State University when Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi.
“It changed people’s lives and derailed plans,” he said. He did clinical rotation and “bounced around a bit,” and at one time lived in a FEMA trailer. Fayard
NICK FAYARD, M.D.
THE
COAST
28 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • January 2017
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