Dr. Holmes & Dr. Milligan Back Home Again
“A big part of the reason why I went to Michigan State University for medical school was because of their rural program. I knew that I wanted to be back in a rural area from the get-go. Priority number one for me was to go somewhere that I could receive excellent rural training. When I was able to return to Scheurer as a medical student, it was so cool to be back and see the nurses and doctors that I worked with as a nursing assistant. Everyone was so happy to have me back and it is just such a unique place. There is a sense of belonging and sense of home that I have not been able to find elsewhere and I believe it is because of the people. The patients, employees and community all make Scheurer what it is.” Dr. Milligan also spent her time serving as the 71st annual Michigan Bean Queen in 2017, a title well-known to the Thumb of Michigan but a head scratcher to those who have never heard of such a prestigious role. “In 2017, I was the Michigan Bean Queen and spent the year representing the Michigan dry bean industry. It is a title that I proudly own and it is an excellent fun fact when you get out of the Thumb,” Dr. Milligan laughed, “I was actually waiting for the Cheeseburger in Caseville parade to start when I found out that I was accepted into medical school. It was definitely a full circle moment for me.” Up the road from Cass City, Dr. Katelyn Holmes grew up in Pigeon and had known from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. Her mother, Brenda Kretzschmer, a nurse practitioner at Scheurer Primary Care – Sebewaing, provided Dr. Holmes with a strong example of caring for those in a rural setting. It was the inspiration from her mother along with some trips to Scheurer Health where Dr. Holmes found her calling.
“I was actually hospitalized here at Scheurer Health when I was two years old. I remember having Dr. Khan as my doctor and I thought he was really cool and I wanted to be just like him.” Similar to Dr. Milligan, Dr. Holmes chose to attend MSU for both undergraduate and medical school. From her very first clinical rotation in internal medicine, Dr. Holmes knew she had found her fit. The puzzle-solving nature of internal medicine, along with the opportunity to manage complex and chronic conditions across all systems of the body, aligned perfectly with her interests and skills. “When I was in undergrad, I was in a program that helped guide me into the osteopathic medical school at Michigan State. My first rotation that I got to do in Internal Medicine, I just fell in love with it,” confirmed Dr. Holmes. “I like to tell my patients that I’m like Sherlock Holmes on the case,” she says with a smile and play on her own last name. “I enjoy digging into the details, figuring things out and putting all the pieces together to help someone feel better. Internal medicine is the basis for a lot of things like cardiology, gastroenterology, etc.. I really fell in love with all of it and that is why I am here.” What excites her most is the opportunity to care for patients across a long period of time and develop relationships, adjust treatment plans and see real improvements in health outcomes. “I like to be able to see the whole process of a patient’s care all the way from inpatient to the clinic. A lot of my patients that I know the best I saw when I was a first-year resident and now I have known them for years. It has been really awesome to see how far they’ve come. A lot of them have been able to really significantly improve their health
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