>>> Meet Dr. Kelly Williams
Except for his years at Princeton and Johns Hopkins universities, Dr. Walter Morgan has lived on the same plot of land all his life. 'The house I grew up in, the house I lived in as a teenager, and my home now are all within a block of each other,” Dr. Morgan laughs. He is also relatively close to the site of the hospital where he worked in the operating room during three college summer breaks.
'That job sparked my interest in medicine,” he says. 'I knew I wanted to do surgeryit was just a matter of what kind. Then, in medical school, I discovered I really like taking care of kids.”
A pediatric cancer and trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt, Dr. Morgan says the greatest thing about taking care of kids is that they recover so quickly.
Dr. Morgan's surgeries are quite varied. Some, like the conjoined twins he and his partner separated in 2009, are even famous. He admits there are moments when a patient touches the father in him.
'When a child comes in with a terrible injury, and they're the same age as one of your kids, you realize what could happen to your own child,” he says. 'That's hard, but what's even harder is taking care of kids who are friends of my kids. It certainly puts things in perspective.”