Flying with Purpose: How an MCPHS Alumna is Saving Lives in the Sky

Discover how Nicki King, BSN '13, charted her own course after following in her grandmother's footsteps.

Nicki King, BSN ’13, always knew she wanted to work in medicine. But it wasn’t until a conversation with her mom during her sophomore year at Purdue University that everything clicked.

“She asked, ‘Have you ever thought about nursing?’” King recalled. “It was like a light bulb went off. I thought, that’s perfect.”

After graduating from Purdue, King moved to Worcester and began teaching at the New England Center for Children. That’s when she discovered Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS).

“It was probably the most challenging 16 months of my life,” King said. “But I also met some of the most incredible students and teachers. I was so indebted to them for my education and for their support.”

From MCPHS, her career took off—literally.

“During one of my clinicals, I saw one of the companies fly in,” King said. “The list of prerequisites to get into flight were taped on my wall ever since. I just kept checking off the boxes.”

Aviation runs in her family—her grandmother was a flight nurse in World War II. Today, King is a Critical Care Transport Nurse for Boston MedFlight. About half of her calls are by helicopter, flying critically ill patients to hospitals across New England, in addition to ambulance and jet transports.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to get to do the work that I do, have the autonomy that we have, and to treat some of the sickest patients that I've ever encountered,” she said.

While flight is her passion, King has stayed close to MCPHS. She returned as an adjunct instructor working in the skills labs in 2019 and was the University’s Commencement speaker in 2022.

“I'm really fortunate to still keep in touch with a lot of the students and the teachers,” King said. “[School of Nursing Dean] Tammy Gravel was one of my primary teachers and she's who I've primarily kept in touch with. It started out as getting advice about jobs, and then she asked me to come and teach. I wouldn't be where I am without being a student at MCPHS.”