awarded Nuclear Medicine Fellowship

Dr. Nathan McWhorter was recently awarded a two year fellowship in nuclear medicine through the U.S. Army. He and his family are currently residing in San Antonio, Texas. His current station is Fort Sam Houston at Brooke Army Medical Center.

McWhorter is married to the former Jennifer Bertram of Marrowbone, Kentucky and has three children, Skylit, Ethan and Isabella. He is the son of Keith and Carol McWhorter of Albany and Joyce Cross LeConte of Panama City, Florida. He is a 1989 graduate of Clinton County High, a graduate of Western Kentucky University, and the University of Pikeville Medical School.

McWhorter’s fellowship is a two year program for diagnostic and treatment using low dose radioactive pharmaceuticals. The diagnostic side deals with using scans such as PET scans, bone scans, cardiac scans to help diagnose cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, gallbladder disease and others.

The treatment side deals with using low dose radioactive medications to cure disease such as thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, liver cancer, certain types of lymphomas, and metastatic bone disease. The hope with using nuclear medicine instead of chemotherapy is that the medication will only be taken up by the cancer instead of many other parts of the body.

Because the medicine targets the tumor specifically, a very low dose of radiation can be used. The patient will not be as sick with side effects.

Brooke Army Medical Center is also performing newly developed PET scan techniques for diagnosing Alzheimers and Parkinson disease. Nathan said, “Offering this seemingly science fiction medicine to our nation’s protectors and their families…wow! How can you beat this? I am truly grateful.”

Maj. McWhorter was previously deployed to Afghanistan where he ran a troop clinic and took turns flying out into the battle zones picking up wounded comrades. For this he was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor.

McWhorter’s latest assignment was a two year nine month station in Vilsek, Germany where he ran a troop clinic. During this time, he and his family visited 20 countries in Europe and Africa. It was a very educational and rewarding experience.