Throwback Thursday: Outer space

To the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” children often answer, “a doctor” or “an astronaut.”  In this photo from the June 1992 edition of Baylor Medicine, courtesy of the Baylor College of Medicine Archives, Baylor’s then president and current Chancellor Emeritus Dr. William Butler (left) receives a photo montage from NASA astronaut David C. Hilmers (right). It turns out that NASA would not be the end-all-be-all of Hilmers’ career.

At the time, Hilmers had completed four space flights – but he always dreamed of being a physician. Later that year, he became a medical student at Baylor and completed his medical degree in 1995. Hilmers is now an associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Baylor, and living proof that it’s possible to succeed at making the proverbial “career change.”

-By Nicole Blanton