Dr. Tracy Nolan, the first female general surgeon at Tift Regional Medical Center, will be the guest speaker at the fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 13 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.  A total of 170 students are expected to receive diplomas at the 10 a.m. event in Gressette Gym.

ABAC President David Bridges and ABAC Alumni Association President Niki Vanderslice will present the prestigious George P. Donaldson Award and the ABAC Alumni Association Award to the top associate degree graduate and the top bachelor’s degree graduate participating in the ceremony.

A Tifton native who is an ABAC graduate, Nolan was recently named a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons at the convocation ceremony in Boston, Mass.  She was one of 1,970 initiates in the 2018 class from the United States, Canada, and 73 other countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia.

The designation means that the surgeon’s education and training, professional qualifications, surgical competence, and ethical conduct have undergone a rigorous evaluation and have been found to be consistent with the high standards established and demanded by the American College of Surgeons.

“My life as a surgeon is difficult but it’s also exciting and challenging,” Nolan said.  “That’s one reason I love being a surgeon so much.”

After graduating from Tift County High School as an honor graduate in 1995, Nolan compiled a perfect 4.0 average in five academic quarters at ABAC and was selected as the 1997 J.G. Woodroof Scholar, awarded to the top academic student at ABAC.

Nolan continued her pattern of academic success at the University of Georgia (UGA) where she also compiled a 4.0 average, earning her First Honor Graduate status, signifying an “A” in every subject. She graduated from UGA in 1998 with her bachelor’s degree in dietetics.

After completing her master’s degree in dietetics from UGA, Nolan began a career as a registered dietitian.  After a few years, she heard her future calling.

“I felt like there was more I could do for my patients,” Nolan, daughter of Mike and Kris Chason of Tifton, said.  “There were more ways I could be of service to them.”

Enrolling in the Mercer University School of Medicine in 2006 was the biggest step of her life. She graduated in 2010, and the dietitian became a doctor.

After medical school graduation, Nolan served her required five years of surgery residency at the Medical Center of Central Georgia.  She joined Tift Regional on Sept. 14, 2015.  In 2016, she passed the oral and written examinations to become certified by the American Board of Surgery.

“Our patients come to us on the worst day of their lives, and we can put them on the road to recovery,” Nolan said.  “They have a problem, and as a surgeon, I can fix it.”