Edwin Carlton Hays Jr. MD, cannot remember a time when he did not want to be a physician. In fact, according to his mother, the desire to pursue medicine started at age 4 or 5. That lifelong dream is being lived out daily at the Jackson Clinic where he is an internist and a pediatrician.

Hays, who goes by his middle name Carlton, moved to Jackson from South Florida at age 13 in 1982. His father, Edwin Hays Sr., had been named YMCA director, the same position he had held in Florida. Hays Jr., who always enjoyed sciences, graduated from North Side High School in 1987. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in just three and a half years, graduating in 1990.

Hays took a few months off after college graduation and entered medical school at UT Health Sciences Center in Memphis in 1991. Initially he thought he would pursue a surgical specialty, but in his third year he made the decision to pursue a dual track of internal medicine and pediatrics. “I realized I wanted long-term relationships with patients and have time with family,” said Hays. “I considered internal medicine, pediatrics or family practice. I chose to pursue both internal medicine and pediatrics, which is a relatively unique program as it left me with fellowship options should I want to specialize further.”

Hays graduated medical school in 1995 and was accepted into a combined internal medicine/pediatrics residency program at Vanderbilt, a long-standing program that accepts only four residents each year. “Each residency by itself, internal medicine or pediatrics, would take three years to complete, the combined program takes four. You alternate spending three months in internal medicine and three months in pediatrics throughout the residency,” said Hays, who became board certified in both pediatrics and internal medicine. “The complexity of trying to do both specialties well and being well trained in the art of taking care of all ages interested me.”

In 1999, as Hays finished his residency, he found there were not many med/ped positions, as practicing both was not that common. He interviewed in Clearwater, Florida, and East Tennessee and even explored opportunities in the Nashville area. Although Hays had never intended to come back to Jackson, when his father asked if he could have the Jackson Clinic send him information, he agreed.

“When I got the clinic’s information packet, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised,” said Hays, who joined the clinic in 1999. “Quite honestly I really had no concept of the vast medical community that was here; it is much more sophisticated than one might expect. At the time I was getting out of residency, there were lots of changes in healthcare going on and physician-owned clinics were becoming few and far between. The Jackson Clinic has a big influence in this area; it has more clout to negotiate with insurance companies and such. It already had two med/ped physicians who were integrated in the internal medicine and pediatric departments, and I saw it as a good opportunity to start a career.”

The most significant change Hays has seen since he went into practice is the differentiation between who provides inpatient and outpatient care. Today, with hospitalists, it is quite typical for one physician to provide inpatient care and another physician to provide outpatient or in-clinic care. “The transition hit the internal medicine side first and was gradual, over a period of five to six years. The impact on pediatrics was a bit later but quicker,” said Hays. “In my training, I spent almost all my time in the hospital. Now 12 years later, I practice almost exclusively in the clinic and do not see patients in the hospital except for newborns in the nursery.”

“Today, thanks to developments in vaccines, you really do not have a lot of kids in the hospital, especially in areas where they have ready access to routine care,” said Hays. “Now it is more efficient for me to practice in the clinic only. It also allows me to better maintain a personal life while practicing medicine.”

Life outside of the clinic is centered on family, which today includes wife, Karen, and children, Katie, age 14, Connor, 12, Claire, 10, and Kolby, who is 8. All four children are active competitive swimmers. The family is heavily involved in their church, West Jackson Baptist, and its Hartland Apartment ministry. “We try to keep a time margin for family although it gets a bit harder as kids gets older,” said Hays. “We eat most dinners together when the kids get in from swim practice each night.”

Hays, who has been on mission trips to South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya, plans to broaden the family’s mission work to outside of the country. The family will be going on a mission trip to Costa Rica this summer. The trip will include a medical element in addition to a vacation bible school and children’s programs. “It is a challenge as a parent to try to raise kids with a broader perspective than what they get in the United States,” said Hays. “We hope God will impact their hearts through this trip and that they will not only appreciate what we have, but also see the importance of sharing our blessings with others. Karen and I hope to foster a heart in them for these types of things.”

caption: Dr. Carlton Hays, center in hat, having fun with the children he worked with on a mission trip to Ethiopia.

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