Todd Smith was first drawn to nursing while working as an emergency medical technician. "The ER nurses I came in contact with were professional, knowledgeable, and in the thick of the action, which really appealed to me," Smith recalls. "I only remember a handful of male nurses, but apparently it was enough to make me think that nursing was not just a woman's profession."

Smith became an ICU nurse and spent two years in a busy trauma centaer emergency room before deciding to go back to school to become a family nurse practitioner. He enjoyed advocating for families and wanted to be more involved in "making a difference" in their lives.

When he contacted the School of Nursing about becoming a family nurse practitioner, Carolyn Chow put him in touch with Deborah Ward, professor of Family and Child Nursing, as well as several current students in the program. She also advised him on tuition and housing concerns. Smith is currently a first year student in the family nurse practitioner program, and is doing his thesis on men in nursing.

"I really believe that if more men knew what nursing entailed they would find it appealing as a career," Smith says.

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