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Demetre M. Nicoloff:
Transcript of Interview Excerpt

Demetre Nicoloff, interviewed by Kirk Jeffrey on November 27, 2000 at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“I’m from Ohio originally. It’s a small town west of Cleveland called Lorraine, Ohio. My father came from overseas when he was twelve or fourteen, and he felt that he wanted his son to be in a profession rather than just being in business. My father owned a grocery store in that area. So I was sort of directed in that direction by my parents, but I always wanted to be a physician. I think that was always my goal in high school.

So I went to Ohio State University, which is in Columbus, Ohio, for my pre-med. They had a program there where they combined pre-med and med all in one thing, so that you would not graduate and get your B.A. until you finished your first year of medical school. So that’s the program I got into. I started in January of ‘51, and I got my M.D. in June or July of 1957, so I did that in about six years.

I always liked surgery. When I got into medical school, you get assigned to doing anatomical dissections and things, and I always made sure I was the one that was assigned that job of doing the dissection. When we got into our written clinical phase, I really enjoyed the surgical clerkships or the assignments that we had.”

 

Biographical Information

Demetre M. Nicoloff grew up in Ohio. He received his medical degree from an Ohio university. He continued his training in Minnesota, worked as a researcher Dr. Owen Wangensteen, and received two advanced degrees. He was involved in the development of the first bi-leaflet all carbon heart valve, the St. Jude valve.

Demetre M. Nicoloff