Discovery, exploration and curiosity as kid can sometimes get you in trouble, but for Dr. Rory Nelson it was the exact opposite.
As a child, Nelson loved to wander in the woods near his childhood home. He’d spend hours exploring the woods and waterways of the Wisconsin River.
His curiosity never left him. In fact, it helped him establish a career in radiology. He is board certified by the American Board of Radiology in diagnostic radiology and after working as a radiologist for 10 years in Sheboygan is now a radiologist with BayCare Clinic Radiology.
“Every case is like a detailed search and find game,” Nelson says. “You start a case with a patient’s history and start exploring. It’s rewarding to interact and be a problem solver with our physicians.”
In addition to reading emergency room studies, a good portion of Nelson’s daily studies are oncology related. He works directly with oncologists, monitoring the effectiveness of patient treatment plans and strategies. He reads complex CT and MRI scans looking for cancer and other abnormalities.
Nelson also enjoys interpreting mammograms, musculoskeletal MRIs and performing small procedures such as lumbar punctures.
“Originally, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but then I switched my major my sophomore year of college and decided to be a medical doctor. In medical school I was very anatomy-orientated and in my first rotation in radiology was drawn to the X-rays and curiosity of being able to see inside the body,” he says. “I’ve always been a visual kind of person.”
Once he graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, he completed his 5-year residency in diagnostic radiology at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center. Nelson then completed a fellowship in digital imaging at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Outside of work, Nelson enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and three kids doing activities such as hunting, fishing, backpacking and playing sports.