38 • south mississippi scene

personalities: dr. kiper nelson

STORY BY ANGEL MISENHELTERPHOTOS COURTESY SOUTHERN EYE CENTER AND NELSON FAMILY PHOTOS

DREAMGrowing up in Yazoo City, on the

edge of the Delta farmlands, Kiper

Nelson dreamed early on of

becoming a world class surgeon.

TThis motivated him to workhard, even in elementaryschool. By the time he finishedhigh school, as Valedictorian,he knew that his ideal surgicalcareer would enable him tohave an immediate impact onthe lives of others, so heplanned to attend medicalschool. Eschewing the usualdegree in pre-med, he followedin his father’s footsteps and gota Bachelors of Science degree inEngineering from theUniversity of Mississippi.While completing his engineer-ing degree Dr. Nelson earnedmembership in Tau Beta Pi, an

exclusive engineering honorsociety.

He was accepted to theUniversity of MississippiSchool of Medicine in Jacksonwhere he continued to studyhard, learning as much as hecould and deciding what surgi-cal specialty interested him themost. He also settled downdomestically, marrying hislong-time sweetheart, LauraLee Peaster.

During the third and fourthyears of medical school, stu-dents “rotate” through the vari-ous medical specialties. LauraLee remembers that by the end

of the first day of his ophthal-mology rotation, “Kiper knewhe had found his specialty; hewas really excited about eyesurgery.” She laughs, “It mayhave been because the instru-ment controls reminded him ofhis favorite arcade games fromjunior high! Seriously, though,Kiper had worn glasses or con-tacts for most of his life, so heknew first-hand that the abilityto help others to see well couldgreatly improve the quality oftheir lives.” He also realizedthat ophthalmology would givehim the opportunity to createmeaningful patient relation-

LIVING THE

ships as well as to perform sur-gery that he so enjoys. Dr.Nelson says, “I guess it’s the engi-neer in me, but I can think ofnothing more satisfying than totake an eye that is not workingand use some of the world’s mostadvanced technology to restorevision for my patients.”

After the completion of medschool and his internship inJackson, Dr. Nelson applied andwas accepted to the ophthalmolo-gy residency program at the pres-tigious Wake Forest Eye Center inWinston-Salem, North Carolina.Wake Forest Eye Center wasrecently named in the top ten clin-ical training programs for ophthal-mologists nationwide. Whilethere, under the instruction ofWake Forest’s skilled surgeonsand teachers, Dr. Nelson further

honed his surgical skills and start-ed to focus his interest and effortsin the field of refractive cataractsurgery.

During his residency Kiper andLaura Lee also began to practicetheir parenting skills, welcomingtheir two sons, Win and Thomas,who were born in Winston-Salem.The Nelsons enjoyed their time inNorth Carolina, forging strongbonds with fellow residents andtaking pleasure in the distinctchanges of seasons, but they soonrealized they missed their homestate of Mississippi and did notwant to be at such a great distancefrom family. “It’s important toLaura Lee and me that our chil-dren know their grandparents,”Dr. Nelson says. “And fourteenhour car trips with two tod-dlers…whew…that’s when you

feel too far away from home!” Hebegan to look forward to returningto Mississippi after finishing atWake Forest in 2000. When heinterviewed with Dr. LynnMcMahan and the other doctors atSouthern Eye Center, he knewhe’d found an ideal match, withits well-earned reputation as astate-of-the-art cataract centeroffering the highest level of careand most advanced technologyavailable today.

He is able to use his back-ground in science and engineeringto improve his surgical techniquesand calculate ways to help hispatients see better. In 2005, Dr.Nelson became convinced of theneed for a modern, high-techLasik center in the southern partof the state. His vision led to hisdevelopment of South

Mississippi’s only stand-aloneLasik center. After undergoingLasik himself, Dr. Nelson origi-nated a technique to examinethe Lasik patient, perform allthe necessary testing, and per-form the Lasik procedure all ina single office visit. This hasallowed most of his patients torealize the benefits of refractivesurgery while minimizing theirtime away from work and otherresponsibilities. Since theinception of Southern Eye LasikCenter, he and his fellowcataract surgeons have spear-headed a surgery practicewhich takes cataract surgery toa new level, not only helpingpatients to see better but also togreatly reduce their depend-ence on glasses or contacts aftertheir cataract surgery. Dr.

Nelson has introduced to ourarea new lens implant technol-

ogy such as the Crystalens,Restor lens, Toric lenses andlimbal relaxing incisions (forastigmatism), and the biopticsprocedure which combines

laser and cataract surgery toproduce the best possiblevision for cataract patients.

“The marriage of new lensimplant technologies with ourcapabilities of fine tuningvision with Lasik has allowedus to offer our patients atSouthern Eye Center trulysuperior vision and a world-class experience that can not bematched anywhere,” explainsDr. Nelson.

The past nine years havebrought many changes toHattiesburg, to Southern EyeCenter, and to Dr. Nelson bothpersonally and professionally.The year 2001 brought twomajor accomplishments to hislife, his third child, daughterElla, was born and he was hon-ored by the Mississippi

“I feel very blessed

to have found an

occupation that I

love; using the

skills God

gave me.”

40 • south mississippi scene

personalities: dr. kiper nelson

south mississippi scene • 41

Business Journal with the Top40 under 40 distinction. Alsoduring this time, he was made apartner in the Southern EyeCenter clinic, along with Dr.Jaime Jimenez, Chief of Retinaand Dr. Lynn McMahan, thefounder of the clinic. Dr.Nelson is also a partner inSouthern Eye Center’s ambula-tory surgery center. Activelyinvolved in prominent eye sur-gical societies—the AmericanAcademy of Ophthalmology,the Society for Excellence inEye Care, and the AmericanSociety of Cataract andRefractive Surgeons — Dr.

Nelson has made presentationsto eye surgeons around thecountry. However, he is moreoften seen on the sidelines ofhis children’s soccer games orwalking Chester, the familydog.

Dr. Nelson has deep roots inSouth Mississippi; both of hisparents grew up in Pearl RiverCounty, so he has many extend-ed family members in this areaand has performed cataract sur-gery on many relatives and for-mer classmates of his parents.He even counts among hisrefractive cataract patients hisown father-in-law who, when

asked about his experience,reports, “Kiper wasgreat…everything wentsmoothly, the staff at the clinicwas nice…and I can see!”

When asked to sum up hisfeelings about his life inHattiesburg, Dr. Nelsonaffirms, “We love our familyand friends here, our neighbor-hood, our church, and our chil-dren’s school. I feel veryblessed to have found an occu-pation that I love; using theskills God gave me, to helpimprove the quality of life ofmy fellow Mississippians.”