NATCHEZ — One of Natchez’s native sons began practicing medicine in town last week.

Christopher Martin — a general surgeon — officially began working for Merit Health Natchez Aug. 3.

Martin was born at the Merit Health Natchez facility — then known as Jefferson Davis Memorial Hospital — and is now locating his practice there just as the hospital works to completely renovate its surgical theater and recovery rooms in advance of the hospital combining its two campuses into a single central unit.

He recently completed a residency in general surgery at the Tulane School of Medicine in New Orleans, and is a resident member of the American College of Surgeons.

Prior to that, he attended medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

He graduated from Cathedral High School, and attended The University of Mississippi, where he received a degree in civil engineering.

Prior to attending medical school, he also spent a year as an American history and algebra teacher, and served as the assistant basketball and golf coach at Cathedral.

Martin said he didn’t know when he entered college he would eventually become a surgeon.

By the third year of his training in civil engineering, Martin realized he did not want to work in the field, but because he was so far along in his education he decided to finish the degree.

“There wasn’t a point of impact where I suddenly knew I wanted to go into medicine, I just kind of came to that knowledge by the time I realized I (didn’t want to be an engineer),” he said.

As for his specialization, that decision came with time and practice during medical school.

“I never thought I wanted to do surgery, but in the third year of medical school, it clicked,” he said.

“I enjoyed my days in surgery rotation so much more than the others, even though they were harder work and longer hours.”

Martin said one of the things he likes about surgical work is doctors can see a measure of success fairly quickly.

“I felt like with surgery, we are working and actively solving problems rather than just managing them,” he said. “Someone comes in, we take them to the operating room and we see results.”

Martin’s practice in Natchez will include minimally invasive colon surgery, gallbladder and appendix removal, biopsies and hernia repair, among other procedures.

Martin said after finishing his residency at Tulane, he and his wife Lizzie were looking for a place to live that had a different pace of life than New Orleans. That’s when Merit Health Natchez came recruiting, and the call to return to his hometown seemed right.

“We have two children, and we have family here, which is important,” he said.

Returning to his hometown — where lots of people know him — in a profession that will affect the lives of many around him means, in some sense, giving up anonymity, Martin said.

“There’s a sort of pressure on you, because when someone comes up to you, you can’t hide,” Martin said. “But it’s a good pressure. It keeps you on your toes.”

Merit Health Natchez’s Director of Professional Outreach Sarah Smith said knowing that the hospital could find someone with local roots was a big plus when recruiting.

“He found what he wanted to do with general surgery, and I thought it would be great to have someone who wanted to come back, who we could invest in and who wanted to invest in the local community,” Smith said. “People already know him, he already has connections in the community.

“We are just so excited to get one of our own.”

Dr. Martin is the son of Lee and Deborah Martin.

His office is located in Suite 100 at The Doctor’s Pavillion at 46 Seargent S. Prentiss Drive. The office can be reached at 601-442-5388.