Full Circle: Dr. James Franklin Comes Home

When Dr. James Franklin begins his Family Medicine residency at Forrest General Hospital, Forrest Health’s flagship hospital, this month, he'll be walking halls that have been part of his life story for more than four decades.

In fact, his story started here.

James was born at Forrest General Hospital in 1984. A few years later, his younger brother was born here, followed by a cousin. Some of his earliest memories involve sitting in the hospital waiting room, fascinated by the scale model of the hospital that was once on display and the skywalk spanning 28th Avenue between Forrest General and Hattiesburg Clinic.

"I thought that walkway was the coolest thing in the world," James said with a laugh. "Then years later, I found myself walking across it with Dr. Rambod Rouhbakhsh, director for the Family Medicine Residency program, during a tour with FMR. If 4-year-old me had known that one day I'd be here as a resident physician, it would have blown his mind."

As a child, James often accompanied his mother as she took his grandparents to doctor's appointments. The hospital elevators felt like adventures, and the campus became a familiar part of life long before he ever considered a career in medicine.

In fact, becoming a physician wasn't part of the plan at all.

After graduating from high school, James, who had already decided he wasn’t going to milk cows twice a day for the rest of his life in the dairy barn built by his grandfather, enrolled in EMT school, which at the time was taught at Forrest General. He soon found work as an Emergency Department technician and spent five years caring for patients in the hospital's ER.

"I loved patient care from the beginning," he said. "I've milked cows, worked construction and worked in factories. Medicine is the only thing I've ever really loved doing."

While working nights in the Emergency Department, James attended classes during the day, often sleeping in his truck between lectures and shifts. He later became a paramedic, working for local ambulance services and routinely transporting patients back to Forrest General.

Even then, medicine was a calling he hadn't fully recognized.

"One night while reading my Bible, I felt the presence of God," James recalled. "The message was simple: 'Get ready.' That was it. For months, I didn't understand what it meant, but eventually it became clear. God was calling me to become a physician. Of all people, me."

The path ahead wasn't easy.

James applied to medical school and was rejected multiple times. Rather than give up, he continued working, taking classes and pursuing his goal. Eventually, that journey led him more than 2,200 miles from his home in Foxworth to St. George's University on the Caribbean island nation of Grenada.

"I never wanted to leave home," he said. "I never wanted to get on a plane or leave Holmes Hill, the property that’s been in my family for four generations. But God laid out a road, and I followed it."

His medical education took him far beyond Mississippi. Clinical rotations carried him to Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Miami, and Chicago. Along the way, he gained experiences he never imagined having while growing up in rural Mississippi.

"I got to see parts of the world I never would have seen otherwise," James said. "I met people from all over the world and experienced places I never would have chosen on my own. It broadened my perspective in ways I never expected."

Still, home was never far from his thoughts.

Throughout medical school and residency interviews, James knew exactly where he hoped to land.

He applied to 115 residency programs across the south and southeast and ranked 20 after completing interviews. Forrest General Hospital Family Medicine Residency Center was his number one choice.

On Match Day, the annual event when medical students learn where they will complete residency training, James sat refreshing his computer screen while his mother waited nearby.

When the email arrived, the answer was exactly what he had hoped for.

"I was blown away," he said. "First, I was relieved just to know I'd matched somewhere. Then Friday came, and I found out where I had matched. Forrest General was right there. I was tickled pink."

The moment represented the culmination of a 12-year journey that began when James returned to college at William Carey at the age of 30.

Now 42, he is part of a growing number of nontraditional physicians who enter medicine after pursuing other careers.

"From age 30 to 42, it took me 12 years to get here," he said. "But every step along the way was worth it."

James chose Family Medicine because it offers both variety and continuity.

"I like seeing different things every day, which is what I loved about EMS and emergency medicine," he said. "But I also love the idea of building relationships with patients and their families over time."

He remembers watching a pediatrician care for patients from infancy through adolescence and realizing he wanted an even longer relationship with those he served.

"The idea of being someone's physician from the time they're a baby until the time I retire – that’s very appealing to me," James said. "I want to be part of people's lives and help guide them through every stage."

As he prepares to begin his three-year residency, James is eager to return to patient care and continue learning. But more than anything, he's grateful that the journey has brought him back to the place he has always considered home.

"I've seen enough of the world to know where I want to be," he said. "I don’t ever want to leave this state. I want to stay in Mississippi. I want to serve my community. I want to be your doctor."

For James, Forrest General Hospital has been a constant presence throughout his life - as a patient, a family member, an EMT student, an Emergency Department technician, a paramedic, and now a physician resident.

After all the miles traveled and obstacles overcome, the place where his story began is where the next chapter starts.

A true full-circle moment.