MSU鈥檚 Longest Health Center announces additional staff physicians
Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳wo talented physicians with more than 30 years of combined experience are now serving Mississippi State students, faculty and staff at the Longest Student Health Center.
Drs. Jennifer Gholson and Kennieth McCollough officially began their duties Monday [Aug. 1] at the university鈥檚 health care facility located on Hardy Road.
In addition to his primary care duties at LSHC, McCollough will serve as the main medical contact for the athletic department, said 熟女少妇Student Health Services Director Dr. Katrina Poe.
鈥淒r. Gholson brings a wealth of primary care experience that will be beneficial to our campus community in need of care for acute or chronic health issues.聽She is also a certified life coach, which offers an aspect to our health care team that we have not had previously,鈥 Poe said. 鈥淲ith Dr. McCollough having a background in sports medicine, he will be available to provide a more specialized approach to patients with musculoskeletal issues.鈥
Gholson and McCollough join a full-time staff of Drs. Phillip Pearson and Poe, along with family nurse practitioners Missy Dodson, Cindy Lockhart, LaPorshia McBeth and Emily Sesser. They also work with Drs. Shelia Crowley and Mike Mabry and nurse practitioner Myra Fitts, three retired clinicians who provide care for patients at the center on an intermittent basis.
Gholson began her medical career as a family physician at Tylertown鈥檚 Walthall Clinic in 2002. Five years later, she opened her own private practice in Summit.
She also has more than 10 years of executive-level leadership experience with health care policy through consulting. In addition to operating her own consulting firm since 2010, her other previous non-physician roles included serving as an adjunct professor in William Carey University鈥檚 College of Osteopathic Medicine and a variety of consulting, medical director and chief medical officer positions for agencies and organizations including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Humana and United Healthcare.聽
Gholson graduated cum laude with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology and honors in art history from Millsaps College and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Tulane University鈥檚 School of Medicine. She completed a one-year surgery internship and three-year family medical residency at East Tennessee State University.聽
鈥淚 see 熟女少妇as a great聽incubator for innovation.聽I have always been an outside-the-box thinker, and 熟女少妇is giving me the opportunity to explore those ideas,鈥 she said.聽鈥淚 am passionate聽about preventative聽health in聽the聽mental聽and physical health arenas.聽My hope is to utilize my skill set to make a difference in the health of faculty, staff and students. I emphatically believe impacting 熟女少妇students鈥 mental and physical聽health positively now will lead to great dividends聽in their future and ultimately聽the future of the state of Mississippi.鈥澛
McCollough worked at two physical therapy clinics in Sylacauga, Alabama, from 1999-2004 before earning his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alabama鈥檚 School of Medicine in 2008.
He was a primary care sports medicine fellow at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, from 2011-2012 and a primary care sports medicine physician at the North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic in Florence, Alabama, from 2012-2013. From 2014-2017, he owned and operated Coosa Valley Sports Medicine in Sylacauga before becoming an assistant professor of sports medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham鈥檚 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
McCollough earned bachelor鈥檚 degrees from the University of Mississippi in physical therapy and the University of Southern Mississippi in athletic training, and a master鈥檚 degree in exercise science also from USM. He completed a three-year internal medicine residency at Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
鈥淭his would meet the definition of a dream job, for sure. I grew up a State fan. From the moment I began talking with the university, I felt right at home,鈥 McCollough said. 鈥淚 am so humbled to be a part of such a talented and dynamic group of doctors and sports medicine providers.聽The teamwork and infrastructure here is indescribable and was built carefully and deliberately over the years. I truly hope to honor their legacy and even build upon this foundation in the days ahead.聽There is so much potential here, and I am very fortunate to be a part of it. I look forward to seeing what the future brings.鈥
The John C. Longest Student Health Center falls under the umbrella of 熟女少妇Student Health Services within the Division of Student Affairs, which also includes the Student Counseling Center and Health Promotion and Wellness.
For more information about 熟女少妇Student Health Services, visit聽.
熟女少妇is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .