Spotlight

Natalie Henderson, MD

Assistant Professor, Pediatric Critical Care

How long have you worked in Pediatrics?   Started residency in 2010, Attending since 2016 in critical care        

What is your favorite thing about your job?  I get to work with a team, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, dieticians, etc, that works together and functions more like a family.  I also enjoy that in the ICU we get to interact with almost every other subspecialty.  

What is your hometown? I grew up in Stanford, Kentucky, but consider home to be Somerset, KY where my dad lives now.

What is your favorite movie? Love Actually, A Few Good Men, The Cutting Edge, My Girl, Couples Retreat

Tell us about your family:   JT and I have been married for over 15 years, having lived all over the eastern half of the US in that time frame.  He works for a national organization that works with NCAA men’s basketball teams and coaches.  We have four sons, the oldest three are adopted.  Jacob is 21 and lives on his own now.  Tedi, who is 12 and attends Barret Traditional Middle School, and Chernet, who is 11 and will attend the WEB Dubois Academy in the fall, were both adopted from Ethiopia during my residency.  Joseph is our “spirited” yet kind 4 year old who looks just like his dad.   

Do you have pets? (If yes, what kind? How many?)  We have one dog, Ruthie, a miniature Goldendoodle.

What are you doing, where are you going, for your next vacation?  We are fortunate that my husband’s job is allowing us and two of our sons to spend spring break at the Final Four in Minneapolis.  Also, our family has fallen in love with Northern Michigan in the summers and will be vacationing on Lake Charlevoix in late July. 

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?  As a young child, I thought I would be an ice skater or gymnast, which is hilarious.  My mom says that I also wanted to be a teacher. 

What is your favorite quote?  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr  “Our greatest fear should not be of failure… but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”-Francis Chan

What was your first job?  Cashier at Wal-Mart

What is your favorite ice cream?  Such a hard choice….butter pecan or anything with chocolate chips from Graeter’s