WEST POINT, Mississippi—North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point recently presented the Dr. Hiroji Noguchi Memorial Scholarship to Nicholas Flannagan, a recent graduate of Oak Hill Academy.

The scholarship is administered by the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi for high school seniors in Clay County schools who are pursuing a career in health care. Friends and colleagues of Dr. Noguchi established the scholarship shortly after his death on Oct. 4, 2019. Dr. Noguchi joined the NMMC-West Point medical staff in June 2017 after moving to this area from Honolulu, Hawaii, where he practiced for 18 years.

Flannagan plans to attend Mississippi State University and is interested in pursuing a career as a retina specialist or an orthopedic surgeon. “Both professions will give me numerous avenues to give back by working with patients daily to ensure their health and well-being to get them back to their normal activities.” In the summer after his ninth-grade year, he attended the National Youth Leadership Forum in Los Angeles, California, where he learned to prepare for medical school and attended a lab, where he learned to insert a chest tube, extract bone marrow and do a tracheostomy. He received several academic awards and was a member of the Beta Club. He was selected freshman class vice president, sophomore and junior class representative, and reporter for the National Honor Society. He also participated in several community service projects. 

For more information on scholarships through HCF, visit www.nmhsfoundation.org.