Physician assistant Nicholas Nowak joins Oaklawn’s express-care team in Albion

ALBION — Nicholas “Nick” Nowak had a powerful notion about what his future might hold, even as he grew up in the small southeastern Michigan city of Tecumseh.

“As early as I can remember, when I was asked what I wanted to do, my answers fell in line with wanting to help people,” he recalls. “I really enjoy human connections between people.”

As events have played out, that’s exactly how Nowak is spending his professional time, having recently joined the medical team at Oaklawn Express Care – Albion as a physician assistant.

The Albion facility — based in Suite B at 302 N. Monroe St. — currently is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, including weekends. The handicap-accessible site, established in 2019, may be contacted at (517) 654-1020.

As Nowak grew up, his caring nature and a fascination with scientific subjects led him to connect his studies to helping people. Nowak said it’s important to him “to be welcoming and compassionate and empathic toward people. It comes naturally to me.”

As a young man, when Nowak joined his father in watching horror movies such as “Nightmare on Elm Street,” he found himself watching with an unusually educational intent.

“I never was grossed out,” he said. “Instead, I’d watch ‘E.R.’ or ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ with my mother and I’d ask questions that my parents didn’t have the answers for, so I had to go track down the answers for myself,” he said.

“I also had a good relationship with my pediatrician when I was 9 or 10, and would pester him with questions about how the human body worked and what was making me sick,” he said.

“I was obsessed with how the human body works and why it works the way it does. I wanted to know as much about it as I could.”

Nowak eventually began pursuing the healing arts as a career, prompting his aunt — a physical therapist — to join his parents in encouraging him, recognizing that medicine would be a great fit for the young man.

“She said the world needs more health-care providers who show that they really care,” he said.

After graduation from Tecumseh High School, Nowak enrolled at Central Michigan University, from which he graduated in 2015 with a bachelor of science degree in psychology.

Nowak then went on to pursue studies at the University of Toledo, from which he graduated in 2020 with a master of science degree in biomedical sciences.

At the University of Toledo Medical Center and other health-care sites in Ohio and Michigan, Nowak gained clinical internal-medicine experience pediatrics, general and orthopedic surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, orthopedic trauma, behavioral health, emergency medicine and family medicine.

Nowak is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Nowak is engaged to be married later this year to Erin Miller, a native of Germany who was raised in Marshall and now teaches history and government at Marshall High School. The couple live in Battle Creek and have a dog named Zazu and a cat named Daisy.

In time, Nowak said, the couple have their sights on moving closer to his new work, probably later in 2023, adding that Marshall and Albion remind him a great deal of his hometown of Tecumseh.

In his spare time, Nowak enjoys watching sporting events such as basketball, football and soccer, and works out about five times a week.

“I’m also big into board games and video games with friends and family,” he said.

As a healthcare paraprofessional, Nowak recently worked with students and parents in the region through the Marshall High School health office, and said he’s looking forward to forming further connections with people in surrounding communities.

“I’m truly excited to become a member of the Oaklawn team and to become a part of he Marshall and Albion communities,” he said.