Nikita Bodoukhin

Nikita Bodoukhin came to the U.S. from Russia when he was 5 years old, with his mother and younger brother. Seeing his single mom, Tatiana, work long hours to provide for the family inspired Nikita’s strong drive and work ethic. His mom was a physician in Russia but had to work odd jobs until she could practice as a nurse in the U.S.

Tatiana Kolomeyer was a role model and motivator—encouraging her son to go into medicine. But Nikita was originally into inventions and computers and thought about becoming an engineer. He would eventually become interested in psychiatry after some close friends developed serious mental illnesses.

Nikita is one of the medical school’s top students. As a Wertheim Scholar, he received a full-tuition, merit-based scholarship, and he has used his interest and talent in information technology and in educating others, to give back to the school. At HWCOM, he tutored fellow students and helped develop training modules for education. When, during a fourth-year course, he was tasked with developing an anatomy module using newly purchased software that was challenging to implement, Nikita used his own resources and dedicated countless hours to devise a solution. His innovative work helped spark interest in the new program among faculty and students.

Nikita also conducted research and presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.

Nikita will now take his talents to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he will specialize in psychiatry.

By Ileana Varela,
Associate Director of Marketing and PR, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine