He Speaks
in every issue
Photographed by Laura McBryde Gainey
Dr. “Bill” Edwards,
a true southern boy at heart,
talks about his passion for
medicine, fitness and cars
I
grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, a typical small
town very much like Florence. While living there as a
young boy, I participated in normal activities - predominantly baseball and Boy Scouts. I did my undergraduate
and medical school education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In the summers during my years in medical school, I worked in Rocky Mount
at the local hospital and for a physical therapist, who taught me much about
the musculoskeletal system and stimulated my interest in spine surgery and
orthopaedic surgery. That led me to the Medical University of South Carolina
in Charleston, where I completed my Orthopaedic Surgery Residency in 1986.
I got married then and moved to San Antonio, Texas, where I took a Spine Surgery Fellowship. I had originally planned on returning to North Carolina after
medical school; however, the professional opportunity to be the first fellowship-trained spine surgeon in this part of the state was too difficult to decline.
This is the only job I have ever had. I feel privileged to be a part of the wonderful
medical community we have here in Florence since 1988.
Growing up in eastern North Carolina was very much like Florence, which is
another thing that attracted me to this community. The rich history of this area
with development around the railroad, its ties to agriculture, and the small town
values that hopefully have been imparted to my two now-grown children have
made us very happy here in Florence.
48
JULY 2016
I was asked by Melia to talk about my hobbies, and as you can see from these
photos, the old car hobby is a very big part of my leisure activities. Growing up
in the late 60’s and 70’s, I have always been attracted to American muscle cars,
but, as the years have gone by, my interests have broadened very much. I enjoy
spending time in my garage on the weekends, tinkering on these cars and playing with them. It is a great way to relax, and I have made a lot of great friends
with whom I never would have come into contact were it not for this hobby. The
same is true for my other outside-work activity, and that is triathlon endurance
racing. It started simply as a way to try and stay in shape as I was reaching middle age, but over the past 20 years, it has become a true passion. I feel fortunate
to have competed in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii twice, and in
the past two years, I competed in the Iron Man 70.3 World Championship in Canada and Austria.
I truly enjoy my hobbies, but I continue to be very excited about my work as
a spine surgeon. There have been many advances in this field of spinal surgery
that have allowed me to positively impact the lives of many patients with neck
and back conditions, and I hope to continue to bring this technology to our community for years to come.
W. S. “Bill” Edwards, Jr., M.D. is a spine surgeon with the Pee Dee Spine Center in Florence,
South Carolina. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two grown children: Caroline and Burke.
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