DR . WHO

“ My interest in medicine was twofold . I love the challenges and I liked to help people ,” he said . “ I ’ ve also always been interested in research , and there ’ s all kinds of discoveries you can make in medicine . We ’ re always looking for something new .”

As a native Louisvillian , Dr . Higgins attended Jeffersontown High School and then went on to Bellarmine University for undergrad where he studied chemistry as a pre-med student . Choosing to stay close to home , he enrolled at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and pursued both his MD as well as a Master of Public Health degree with concentrations in epidemiology and research .

Along the way , he found his interest in ENT and upon finishing both degrees in 2006 , the time came for residency . He ended up at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk , Virginia where he would spend the next five years .

“ Eastern Virginia had , and continues to have , a phenomenal program in ENT . They have all the subspecialties within ENT as well , so I could train on not only general ENT but also the complex ENT cases .”

While he was there , Dr . Joe Han , a highly respected physician in both clinical and research settings , became the Director of Rhinology at Eastern Virginia .

“ It was a unique opportunity because he had just started and I got a lot of exposure to him , which I was so fortunate to have . We

became really good colleagues and friends , and we still interact all the time today .”

This training and exposure to strong mentors led Dr . Higgins to realize he wanted to pursue some of those complex conditions , and he started a fellowship in rhinology and skull base in 2011 . With the small nature of the rhinology community , his mentors and teachers were instrumental in directing him toward Johns Hopkins University , where he completed his fellowship .

After a year in Baltimore , he knew it was time to head home , a mutual decision with his wife Ashley . Also a Louisville native , the two met through mutual friends on the cross country team while students at Bellarmine . They got married while in medical school , and she stuck with him through training across the country , with her only stipulation being that they return home as their final stop .

Upon returning to the Bluegrass state in the summer of 2012 , he was the first ENT in Kentucky with advanced fellowship training in rhinology .

“ I reached out to ENTs to tell them what I offered and to help them understand what I could help them with ,” he said . “ I talked to them and a lot of them didn ’ t know how I could help at the time , but I gave them my cell phone number and told them to call if they needed me . Sure enough , I started getting calls .”

He wanted to be thought of as the local alternative to notable higher institutions across the country like Mayo Clinic , Vanderbilt or Cleveland Clinic . “ I wanted to serve as a chance to treat the patients locally , so they didn ’ t have to go further away for treatment .”

This new territory brought its own set of challenges , though . With no one else at the time doing what he was doing , it was often hard to

32 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE