Work with It
Drs. Nell and Jim Potter recount the last 58 years of hard work and hopes for future generations.
s Jim and Nell Potter, both MD ’63, sip iced tea and chat on their back porch, training flights at the nearby Naval Air Station Pensacola zoom by, their roars echoing in the atmosphere. The repeated booming doesn’t interrupt the Potters’ conversation; they’re recalling the first day they met, in 1959, on the UF College of Medicine campus.
“There was a picnic held for incoming freshmen,” Nell Potter says. “Jim was playing volleyball and was getting really loud and boisterous. I thought, who in the world is that with the loud mouth?”
Photo by Jesse S. Jones
Drs. Nell and Jim Potter have called Pensacola their home for almost 50 years. The 1963 graduates of the UF College of Medicine began caring for patients in their West Florida community in 1972.
For their first date, Nell asked Jim to tailgate with a couple of friends before a Gator game. They enjoyed a picnic in the wooded area near the Reitz Union, and soon they were spending most of their nights together, going for pizza at 3 a.m. after study sessions or watching sports. The UF College of Medicine campus provided the backdrop for their budding romance, which ultimately resulted in a family of four children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The Potters say they are grateful for their shared memories — getting married during their second year of medical school, the birth of their first child during their third year — as well as the training they received at the UF College of Medicine. With the establishment of the Nell W. Potter, MD, Assistant Professorship in Adolescent Medicine, the Potters aim to pay it forward. The couple’s fund will support an assistant professorship in adolescent medicine within the UF department of pediatrics.
“It’s important for us to give back,” Jim Potter says. “We came from families that didn’t have a lot of money. Now, we see ourselves as recipients of an asset for which we need to make a return.”
His wife agrees.
“UF made it possible for us to have the life we have now, to practice a profession we enjoy, to make an adequate living, to be able to see and experience all kinds of places and things,” she says.
After graduation, Jim served in the U.S. Navy as a flight surgeon before completing a pathology residency at the UF College of Medicine. Nell worked as a resident with a general practice, treating many Navy wives. When they moved to Gainesville, she became a physician treating UF students at the Student Health Care Center.
“I found I really enjoyed treating young people. Adolescent medicine was a way to teach teenagers how to take control of their own care,” Nell Potter says.
The Potters have been part of the west Florida community of Pensacola since 1972. Looking back on 30 years of practicing medicine, one lesson stands out to Jim. He recalls training the phlebotomists at his hospital to refer to patients by their names, rather than their room number or symptoms. Throughout his career, he made sure to never lose sight of the importance of connecting with the patient.
“We were taught to introduce ourselves, shake a hand, establish contact. You’re not dealing with a test tube. You’re dealing with an individual who’s looking for more than a diagnosis. Can you give them reassurance or an explanation of what’s going to happen next?” he says.
As the Potters celebrated their 55th reunion in the fall, they are appreciated for their timeless support of the UF College of Medicine. For 20 years, Nell served on the UF Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors and also spent time on the UF Foundation Board of Directors.
“Jim and Nell have consistently demonstrated their commitment to the university and our medical school. We are grateful they have remained so closely connected to UF,” says Joseph A. Tyndall, MD, MPH, interim dean of the UF College of Medicine.
Jim’s confident that his generation of physicians will be more than adequately replaced by today’s graduates. For those currently struggling with grueling medical school schedules, he offers encouragement.
“In medical school, days were long, nights were short. You learn to stick it out,” he says. “They tell you during the application process that medical school is hard, but you’ll never know until you get there. You just have to pull your pants up and work with it.”
Jim and Nell Potter, who return to Gainesville almost every year for Alumni Weekend, are pictured at the UF College of Medicine’s 2013 Alumni Weekend.
(Center) George T. Harrell, MD, founding dean of the UF College of Medicine, and Jim Potter, MD ’63.
