Hometown Rankin - February & March 2016

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Matters of Heart the Susan Marquez William J. Harris, MD
William J. Harris’s fascination with the heart began in early elementary school when he checked out a book about heart surgery from the library. Always a tinkerer, he was a detail person from an early age. “I always liked doing things with my hands,” he said. “I built models, and I loved books on how and why things work. I would break things down to see how they worked, then put them back together again.” The Jackson native was born in Dallas and moved to Jackson when he was four years old and attended St. Richard’s School through the eighth grade. His family moved into the Mill Creek subdivision near the Reservoir in 1975, and Harris graduated high school at Northwest Rankin. He went to college at Mississippi State University, where he majored in bio-medical engineering. “I chose my major because I thought it would be fun. Only about four or five people from my class went on to medical school.” Harris went to medical school at the University of Mississippi, then completed an internship and residency in general surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He then completed a fellowship and residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the UAB before returning to Jackson. “I didn’t have physicians in my family,” said Harris. “But after wanting to be a priest, I decided around the ninth grade that I wanted to go to medical school. I suppose I’ve always felt a calling to help people.” Harris credits his bio-medical engineering education with giving him the skills to take a big problem and break it down into small, fixable, problems. “That’s what medicine is all about. Medicine is complicated–I like to make sense of it.” The credit to his real interest in heart surgery goes to Anthony Petro. “When I was a first year med student, I got in contact with him, and he invited me to come up and watch him do surgery. He taught me detail things; like scrubbing hands before surgery—there’s a sort of ritual to it. It got to where he or his nurse would call me when they were doing different procedures, and if I had time, I’d go scrub in and observe.” Today, Harris is chief of cardiovascular surgery at Baptist Medical Center. While he does all types of heart surgery, he has a special interest in mitral valve repair, robotic cardiac surgery, minimally invasive heart valve surgery, minimally invasive atrial fibrillation ablation, treatment of varicose veins, venous reflux and spider veins. “The best thing is to repair mitral valves, not replace them. That requires both technical skill and scientific knowledge. It has an artistic sort of bent to it, which really appeals to me.” Harris clearly remembers the first time he looked down on someone’s chest. “A clamp was placed on the aorta, and the heart and lungs were not moving. It profoundly impacted me. From then on I was certain of what I wanted to do.” He has been at Baptist for 14 years now. “From a professional side, my analytic personality finds satisfaction in doing surgery. I get immediate feedback on what I’ve done. It’s nice to know that what I’m doing provides someone with immediate help. It’s also gratifying to take someone who is extremely ill and do something technically challenging. Organizing a team to help you do something very difficult to provide a good quality of life is rewarding. Doing surgery on people creates a very personal relationship. It takes a lot of trust for people to give up control to someone they may not know very well. I spend a lot of time away from work thinking about my patients.” In his spare time, Harris enjoys spending time with his family. He is married to wife, Cindy, and together they have three children. “I also enjoy riding my bike when I can, and playing guitar.” Harris has been playing guitar since he was 13, and now plays for the show choir at Jackson Prep, a gig he’s had for about ten years. n Hometown Rankin • 53
Page 1 and 2: volume 3 number 1 Feb/Mar 2016 stor
Page 3 and 4: FACIAL REJUVENATION IS ABOUT the ar
Page 5 and 6: publisher & Editor Tahya A. Dobbs C
Page 8 and 9: Rankin County is one of the fastest
Page 10 and 11: Pit Smoked Barbecue dine-in . take-
Page 12 and 13: 12 • February/March 2016
Page 14 and 15: We have after hours coverage 7 days
Page 16 and 17: How We Met Everyone has their “Ho
Page 18 and 19: Judy & Barry Kirkpatrick pearl Heat
Page 22 and 23: A Leap of Faith 22 • February/Mar
Page 24 and 25: But once I moved away, I realized h
Page 26 and 27: Brother Wesley Perry What is your f
Page 32 and 33: RichlandFire Department Grand Re-Op
Page 34 and 35: 4-25-15 2.5 x 1.75 Attitude Ability
Page 36 and 37: -engagement- MadisonLeighAnnBurrell
Page 38 and 39: Urology Associates of Mississippi O
Page 40 and 41: 40 • February/March 2016 Life is
Page 42 and 43: The Alumni House Sports Bar & Grill
Page 44 and 45: etirement, assisted living & memory
Page 48 and 49: 2016 YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO T
Page 50 and 51: Mother / Son Night of Fun January 1
Page 54 and 55: HOME Sweet HOME EQUITY USE IT WHENE
Page 56 and 57: A cord of three strands is not quic
Page 64 and 65: Shop local... Shop Rankin County y
Page 66 and 67: Espiritu Cues: A Hometown Man’s W
Page 68 and 69: He uses only the finest materials t
Page 70 and 71: 1 print 2 graphic design • Bookle
Page 72 and 73: 2016 d i x i e n a t i o n a l Live
Page 74 and 75: First Baptist Brandon Garage Sale f
Page 78 and 79: The following narrative tells the a
Page 80 and 81: week 42, and the radiation had an a
Page 82 and 83: Voted Oxford’s Best Hotel 2011-20
Page 84 and 85: Kick Off The Season Alumni House St
Page 86 and 87: The CHALKBOARD rankin county School
Page 88 and 89: The CHALKBOARD rankin county School
Page 90 and 91: Camille Anding The Time Coin Sally
Page 92: Because there’s Merit in faster c

Hometown Rankin - February & March 2016

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