personalities: dr.

kiper nelson

L IVING THE
DREAM
Growing up in Yazoo City, on the
edge of the Delta farmlands, Kiper
Nelson dreamed early on of
becoming a world class surgeon.

T This motivated him to work

hard, even in elementary
school. By the time he finished
high school, as Valedictorian,
he knew that his ideal surgical
career would enable him to
have an immediate impact on
the lives of others, so he
planned to attend medical
school. Eschewing the usual
degree in pre-med, he followed
in his father’s footsteps and got
a Bachelors of Science degree in
Engineering from the
University of Mississippi.
While completing his engineer-
ing degree Dr. Nelson earned
membership in Tau Beta Pi, an
exclusive engineering honor
society.
He was accepted to the
University of Mississippi
School of Medicine in Jackson
where he continued to study
hard, learning as much as he
could and deciding what surgi-
cal specialty interested him the
most. He also settled down
domestically, marrying his
long-time sweetheart, Laura
Lee Peaster.
During the third and fourth
years of medical school, stu-
dents “rotate” through the vari-
ous medical specialties. Laura
Lee remembers that by the end
of the first day of his ophthal-
mology rotation, “Kiper knew
he had found his specialty; he
was really excited about eye
surgery.” She laughs, “It may
have been because the instru-
ment controls reminded him of
his favorite arcade games from
junior high! Seriously, though,
Kiper had worn glasses or con-
tacts for most of his life, so he
knew first-hand that the ability
to help others to see well could
greatly improve the quality of
their lives.” He also realized
that ophthalmology would give
him the opportunity to create
meaningful patient relation-

STORY BY ANGEL MISENHELTER

PHOTOS COURTESY SOUTHERN EYE CENTER AND NELSON FAMILY PHOTOS

38 • south mississippi scene

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 of
nothing more satisfying than to
take an eye that is not working
and use some of the world’s most
advanced technology to restore
vision for my patients.”
After the completion of med
school and his internship in
Jackson, Dr. Nelson applied and
was accepted to the ophthalmolo-
gy residency program at the pres-
tigious Wake Forest Eye Center in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Wake Forest Eye Center was
recently named in the top ten clin-
ical training programs for ophthal-
mologists nationwide. While
there, under the instruction of
Wake Forest’s skilled surgeons
and teachers, Dr. Nelson further
honed his surgical skills and start-
ed to focus his interest and efforts
in the field of refractive cataract
surgery.
During his residency Kiper and
Laura Lee also began to practice
their parenting skills, welcoming
their two sons, Win and Thomas,
who were born in Winston-Salem.
The Nelsons enjoyed their time in
North Carolina, forging strong
bonds with fellow residents and
taking pleasure in the distinct
changes of seasons, but they soon
realized they missed their home
state of Mississippi and did not
want to be at such a great distance
from family. “It’s important to
Laura Lee and me that our chil-
dren know their grandparents,”
Dr. Nelson says. “And fourteen
hour car trips with two tod-
dlers…whew…that’s when you
feel too far away from home!” He
began to look forward to returning
to Mississippi after finishing at
Wake Forest in 2000. When he
interviewed with Dr. Lynn
McMahan and the other doctors at
Southern Eye Center, he knew
he’d found an ideal match, with
its well-earned reputation as a
state-of-the-art cataract center
offering the highest level of care
and most advanced technology
available today.
He is able to use his back-
ground in science and engineering
to improve his surgical techniques
and calculate ways to help his
patients see better. In 2005, Dr.
Nelson became convinced of the
need for a modern, high-tech
Lasik center in the southern part
of the state. His vision led to his
development of South
personalities: dr. kiper nelson
Mississippi’s only stand-alone
Lasik center. After undergoing
Lasik himself, Dr. Nelson origi-
nated a technique to examine
the Lasik patient, perform all
the necessary testing, and per-
form the Lasik procedure all in
a single office visit. This has
allowed most of his patients to
realize the benefits of refractive
surgery while minimizing their
time away from work and other
responsibilities. Since the
inception of Southern Eye Lasik
Center, he and his fellow
cataract surgeons have spear-
headed a surgery practice
which takes cataract surgery to
a new level, not only helping
patients to see better but also to
greatly reduce their depend-
ence on glasses or contacts after
their cataract surgery. Dr.
40 • south mississippi scene
Nelson has introduced to our
area new lens implant technol-
“I feel very blessed
to have found an
occupation that I
love; using the
skills God
gave me.”
ogy such as the Crystalens,
Restor lens, Toric lenses and
limbal relaxing incisions (for
astigmatism), and the bioptics
procedure which combines
laser and cataract surgery to
produce the best possible
vision for cataract patients.
“The marriage of new lens
implant technologies with our
capabilities of fine tuning
vision with Lasik has allowed
us to offer our patients at
Southern Eye Center truly
superior vision and a world-
class experience that can not be
matched anywhere,” explains
Dr. Nelson.
The past nine years have
brought many changes to
Hattiesburg, to Southern Eye
Center, and to Dr. Nelson both
personally and professionally.
The year 2001 brought two
major accomplishments to his
life, his third child, daughter
Ella, was born and he was hon-
ored by the Mississippi
Business Journal with the Top
40 under 40 distinction. Also
during this time, he was made a
partner in the Southern Eye
Center clinic, along with Dr.
Jaime Jimenez, Chief of Retina
and Dr. Lynn McMahan, the
founder of the clinic. Dr.
Nelson is also a partner in
Southern Eye Center’s ambula-
tory surgery center. Actively
involved in prominent eye sur-
gical societies—the American
Academy of Ophthalmology,
the Society for Excellence in
Eye Care, and the American
Society of Cataract and
Refractive Surgeons — Dr.
Nelson has made presentations
to eye surgeons around the
country. However, he is more
often seen on the sidelines of
his children’s soccer games or
walking Chester, the family
dog.
Dr. Nelson has deep roots in
South Mississippi; both of his
parents grew up in Pearl River
County, so he has many extend-
ed family members in this area
and has performed cataract sur-
gery on many relatives and for-
mer classmates of his parents.
He even counts among his
refractive cataract patients his
own father-in-law who, when
asked about his experience,
reports, “Kiper was
great…everything went
smoothly, the staff at the clinic
was nice…and I can see!”
When asked to sum up his
feelings about his life in
Hattiesburg, Dr. Nelson
affirms, “We love our family
and friends here, our neighbor-
hood, our church, and our chil-
dren’s school. I feel very
blessed to have found an occu-
pation that I love; using the
skills God gave me, to help
improve the quality of life of
my fellow Mississippians.”
south mississippi scene • 41