Dr. Russell Reed, a native Mississippian, shares about his time at UMMC, memorable moments from training that include glamour shots and a cat, and what he’s up to now.
Tell us about you and what you did at UMMC.
I grew up in Natchez, MS and after graduating from high school, I attended Mississippi State University. I majored in microbiology and while trying to get into medical school I decided I would rather stay in school than get a job, so I hung around and worked on my MBA. The MCAT was still a major hurdle for me so after I finally graduated, I moved to Jackson and worked in the Office of Internal Medicine at UMMC. I found out I was accepted to medical school on the day before I got married and started medical school in 2003. From there I did my residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Cardiology and then Interventional Cardiology. I am married to my wife, Simine, and we have three children: Hunter (16), Evelyn (12) and Callie (7).
Where are you now and what are you doing?
After I completed my fellowship in 2014 I moved to Ocean Springs, MS and worked primarily in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula, MS for four years. I moved to Covington, LA in 2018 and am now working as an interventional cardiologist at St. Tammany Parish Hospital, where there are several UMMC graduates who I see frequently.
What do you miss most about UMMC?
As stressful as it seemed at the time, I really miss cardiology fellowship. Every class had its own room and we were always bouncing between rooms and offices to vent to each other or just hang out and unwind. I probably miss being in the cath lab for my interventional cardiology fellowship the most, though. It was such an incredible year. Throughout medical school, residency and fellowship you are exposed to so many great teachers and mentors but being in the cath lab and getting shoulder to shoulder with them is a next-level experience altogether.
Share a memory or more of your time here at UMMC.
There are so many, from early on in my M1 year hearing Dr. Moore in Gross Anatomy saying “You are behind” to being a first year cardiology fellow sweating bullets in the cath lab with Dr. Moore as I tried to get femoral access on one of his patients. As painful as post-call rounds were on house medicine, Dr. Swink Hicks always made them a little more tolerable. There is now a whole new heart center for University Heart now, but I remember when we had the trailer behind the hospital. My crowning achievement, though, would have to be the picture that Shawn Sanders, John Saxon, Mr. Tang (RIP) and myself gave Dr. Guild for his birthday. For those who have not seen it, just know that it involves a slightly sedated cat and more denim than a 1988 Bon Jovi New Jersey Tour concert.
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