The Great Physician

As a freshman at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Jeff Johns, MD, spotted someone practicing for cheerleader tryouts. Although he had never once tumbled in gymnastics or participated in cheerleading before, Johns asked her to teach him some basics. Read More

Thomas “Tom” Davis, MD, enjoys archery when he’s not treating people with movement disorders. Read More

One of the greatest gifts of being an internal medicine physician is the long-term relationships developed with patients, and for Jan Price, MD, those relationships span generations of families. Read More

Pediatric cardiologist James Johns, M.D., relishes being a physician who wears many hats. Read More

Surgical oncologist Carmen Solórzano, M.D., senses she has a reputation for being tough on residents. It doesn’t bother her. Read More

Ten years ago Mark Rice, M.D.’s beloved Green Bay Packers were playing football against the Miami Dolphins, and he was in the stands with his parents and children. It was a hot day. A woman nearby went into a seizure, and Rice went to her aid. Read More

Curiosity is the spark that has always energized and illuminated Eric Shinohara’s life — curiosity about the natural world, about other people and about how to help those individuals. Read More

If a career in medicine hadn’t worked out for Sam Chang, he might have been a politician. As an undergraduate at Princeton University, Chang chose to major in politics instead of common premed majors such as biology or chemistry. That way, he would have the opportunity to take a spectrum of liberal arts classes, from psychology to sociology to anthropology. Read More

Pathologist Carol Rauch, M.D., Ph.D., likes being prepared. Read More

Neat stacks of paper are lined up on the desk of Timothy Geiger, M.D., with each stack representing a challenge. For example, one sheet has a flow chart sketched on it — Geiger’s musing on ways to more efficiently use Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) operating rooms, matching the best locations with case types and surgical teams. Read More

Last May, Ian Jones, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and executive medical director of Emergency Services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, stopped in his tracks when news reports flashed about lava overflowing the crater lake at the summit of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. Read More

A thank-you message is pinned to the wall of the work room of T. Brent Graham, M.D., and his team. The crayon-penned note reads simply, “Than you for tacen car of me Dr. Graham.” Read More

A series of beautiful photographs of turquoise waves curling over a sandy beach sits above the desk of John Huff, M.D. An accomplished photographer whose work has been exhibited at shows in Nashville as well as regional invitational shows in Louisville, Birmingham, and the International Center for Photography in New York, Huff said most people think the framed photos are all the same image. But each photo is slightly different and to him, it is the details that matter. Read More

The tears Reid Thompson, M.D., shed one day as a medical student left an indelible mark. Read More

Everyone knew everyone in Patty Wright’s hometown of Scottsville, Kentucky, population 4,336. Read More

Paul Moore, M.D., has lived two places in his life: Nashville and Boston. He credits experiences and people in both cities for helping shape him into the physician, pulmonary specialist (and sports fan) that he is today. Read More

Gaelyn Garrett, M.D., wasn’t a country music fan when she was growing up. When she came to Music City 22 years ago for a fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she was planning to stay for only a year, and then find a job in her native North Carolina. Read More

When Rob Hood, M.D., began practicing cardiology 30 years ago he could not have imagined that fitness would one day be measured on a device worn around his wrist. Read More

It was while inside a loud and odoriferous chromium metal plating shop that Stephanie Spottswood first considered a career in medicine. Read More

In her office, Ann Kavanaugh-McHugh, M.D., reaches up to a high shelf and pulls down a stack of notebooks. Reminders, she says, of the 4,000 families she has cared for over the course of her nearly 25-year career as a pediatric cardiologist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More