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For Louis E. Cunningham, MD, Jackson is where his heart is, and it was his heart that brought him back from the big city to take care of the hearts of many West Tennessee residents. Fortunately, his heartfelt compassion for others extends well beyond his patients to the community, his church, and his beloved alma mater.

Cunningham, the son of public school teachers, was born in 1951 at the "new" hospital in town, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. He attended kindergarten at the church where he was baptized and where his family have been long time members, St. Paul's Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E). He graduated from Merry High school where he played basketball and played cornet in the band. "Basketball was my biggest passion in high school," said Cunningham.

Following in the footsteps of his parents, he went to Lane College where his grandmother was the first female to graduate from the school. He continued playing basketball and was in both the marching and concert bands. "At the end of my sophomore year I had to get a job, so I gave up basketball and band to focus more on my studies," said Cunningham. "I was majoring in math and had an inkling of an interest in medicine when a professor of mine suggested I attend a summer program for college students interested in medicine at Fisk University in Nashville."

"On our first day there, the coordinator told us that Meharry Medical College, which was across the street from Fisk, was holding its graduation ceremony (that day) and we might find it interesting," said Cunningham. "I attended the graduation and it registered with me, I thought maybe I could do this and how wonderful it would be. It was during my time at that summer program that I developed a serious interest in medicine."

Cunningham graduated Cum Laude from Lane College in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He then studied computer science for a year at Ohio State University, but left to take a job with South Central Bell in Nashville. "I decided I wanted to go to medical school, so I took some pre-med classes to prepare me for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)," said Cunningham.

He earned his medical degree in 1979 from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. While attending Meharry, Cunningham served as an assistant professor, was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and received the C.V. Mosby Award in 1979.

He completed an internal medicine internship and his residency at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, which included work at Charity Hospital and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. "New Orleans is a great place," said Cunningham. "I was young; we worked crazy hours, but it didn't matter, there was always something going on. It was totally fascinating to me."

He returned to Nashville to complete his residency at Hubbard Hospital, where he served as chief resident of internal medicine. "I enjoyed internal medicine overall and wasn't sure if I wanted a sub-specialty," said Cunningham. "There was a lot of teaching when making rounds. I really liked cardiology and made the decision to pursue it."


Cunningham left Tennessee for New York City, where he completed his cardiology fellowship at Harlem Hospital in 1987. "The cardiology training was exceptional," said Cunningham. "There were many indigent and immigrant patients. We treated lots of Third World diseases. It was a unique experience and a great place to study and train."

"New York is a totally electrifying city, very top-speed and high intensity. I would have loved to live there. The theater, the arts and the music… I had an opportunity to experience those on a level I never had before. New York is the place to be for those things, I just knew it was too expensive for me to live there."

When he completed his cardiology training in New York, he felt the need to get closer to home and in 1987 moved to Memphis. "My mother had died my senior year of medical school and my father was still in Jackson," he said. "I wanted to be closer to him as I feared he may have health problems. When he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I moved him to Memphis to live with me."

"It did not take me long to realize that for my dad to be happy he needed to be in Jackson; it was his home," Cunningham continued. "In 1990, we both moved back to Jackson, a decision that turned out to be the smartest one for me professionally and otherwise."

In 1993, he founded the Mid-South Heart Center, which today has clinics in Jackson, Bolivar, Camden, Parsons, and the latest addition, Dyersburg. "I always look forward to going into a new area and making new contacts, connecting with the patients and the area physicians," said Cunningham, who is board-certified in the field of cardiovascular disease and a fellow in the American College of Cardiology.

Cunningham is very active in his church as well as with Lane College, serving on its Board of Trustees for the past ten years. "St. Paul's gives me my spiritual grounding," he said. "Lane's mission is something I feel very connected with. It is a place where students can be nurtured and developed."

Cunningham also mentors Lane students through his office. "Several of the students I have mentored have gone on to become physicians, and a few have returned to Jackson to practice," said Cunningham. "They are some very inspiring success stories to me. It keeps me energized."

Tags:

Cardiology, Jackson TN, Louis E. Cunningham, Mid-South Heart Center

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