Medical College of Georgia Alumni Association.

For Talmadge “Joe” Bowden, MD, ’66, his University of Georgia ROTC commander — a no-nonsense combat veteran of World War II with a colorful vocabulary — gave him the best advice of his career.

Bowden’s sights were set on following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Air Force and becoming a fighter pilot. His career in medicine, he says, happened almost accidentally.

Her countenance exudes calm, but when her legs are crossed, her right foot probably is a better gauge of what is really going on with Valera Hudson, MD. The foot, typically clad in a navy athletic shoe, is in constant motion.

She calls herself an “introvert by nature,” which she says is not to be confused with shyness, despite what the dictionary might say. Hudson favors author Susan Cain’s description: That introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environs, quiet concentration, listening more than they talk and thinking well before they speak.

When Bennett Grimm, MD, ’06, thinks back, he remembers the awful feeling of not getting into the Medical College of Georgia the first time he applied.

At that point, a friend and first-year medical student suggested, “You need to go talk to Dr. Falls.”