Dr. Nate Oldham named SIC Distinguished Alumnus
HARRISBURG - Dr. Nate Oldham has been selected to join Southeastern Illinois College's Distinguished Alumni roster, and will give the keynote speech at SIC commencement exercises at 7 p.m. Friday, May 11.
Oldham, of Eldorado, is chief of staff at Ferrell Hospital in Eldorado and a member of the hospital board of directors.
He has played a significant role in many improvements to the hospital, including its recent enhanced affiliation with Deaconess Hospital, which provides local patients easier access to specialists and advanced level services. He is also the medical director for the Ferrell Hospital Family Practice Rural Health Clinic, cardiopulmonary rehab and respiratory medicine.
A graduate of Eldorado High School, Oldham completed his general studies and early pre-medicine courses at SIC from 1999-2001. From there, he earned a bachelor's in biological sciences in 2003 from University of Illinois in Urbana, and his doctorate of medicine from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield in 2007.
Oldham said he initially chose SIC because he was not emotionally or educationally ready to transition to a four-year university straight out of high school.
"I knew that I needed time to better develop my learning strategies and study habits if I was going to be successful in the field of medicine," Oldham said. "I had heard that SIC's small class size and caring professors would help me transition into a better student at a much more affordable price.
"Plus, SIC was only five miles from my home, and I was able to save more money by living at home for two more years."
His fond memories from SIC include "marathon" calculus study sessions for Mr. (Alan) Morgan's classes, alongside his math friends.
"This is when I truly started to develop better study habits," Oldham said. "Then my first exposure to human anatomy in Dr. Mila Maring-Sim's anatomy and physiology class - where I truly started to fall in love with the field of medicine.
Oldham said he believes local residents sometimes take for granted the quality of education available in their own backyards.
"When I transferred to the University of Illinois from SIC, I was ahead of the curve in almost all of my junior level classes," Oldham said. "SIC provided me with a more intimate environment in which learning could really happen, not just regurgitation of information for a test.
"It also provided a much more economical way to start off my training instead of going into a huge amount of debt for my first two years of college."
Oldham has endeavored to serve his community well and has earned a number of prestigious awards.
Southern Illinois University Medical School named Oldham its Mentor of the Year in 2015-16, where he is also a clinical assistant professor. In 2012, he was awarded the Eldorado High School Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a diplomat of the American Board of Family Medicine.
"Dr. Oldham is a wonderful choice by the alumni committee as a model for which SIC stands," SIC President Jonah Rice said. "Nate exemplifies the core values to which we prescribe. We are so very proud of him and his wonderful family, and overjoyed that they returned home to be a part of our community."
Oldham is married to Betsy Morris, and they have five children. He coaches his children's sports teams and is a very active member of his church, where he is a deacon, and the organizer of the Affordable Christmas Program for families in the community.
He volunteers as a children's church teacher and a vacation Bible school helper. He enjoys gardening and canning, reading, and spending time with his wife and children.