Profile: Regan Williams, MD

A passion for trauma, a heart for children

It takes a lot of guts for a pediatric trauma surgeon to admit that at one time, she didn’t really like children very much.

But that was before Regan Williams, MD – medical director of Trauma Services at Le Bonheur – started her pediatrics rotation in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“I just really fell in love with the kids,” she admits. “They were just really so sweet and fun to play with … and that’s when I fell in love with pediatrics, and how I decided to do pediatric surgery.”

Williams’ career has centered on a holistic approach to caring for her young patients. When she was a medical student and then a resident at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, she spent many hours sewing up teenagers with all manner of traumatic injuries.

“It was the right opportunity for me to connect with them,” says Williams. “A lot of the patients were gunshot wounds or some sort of assault or violent crime. And I would always say ‘What do you love? What’s your favorite subject? What kind of sports do you love? Because this isn’t the end for you, there’s so much you can do and you have so much opportunity.’”

In a twist of irony, the surgeon who thought she never liked children is now a mother of three. She has two sons, ages 10 and 7, and a 4-year-old daughter. All three were born during her residency and fellowship. When she came over to pediatric surgery, she says, it was hard in the beginning to separate being a mother and being a surgeon.

“But then I remember that … I’m there to save their life and to help them feel better,” she says. “So I focus on the medical aspect, which allows me to be a good doctor and to be able to work through those things and not get caught up in the reaction and emotion that can be associated with pediatric trauma.”

As the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in the region, Le Bonheur is ground zero for treating trauma victims. Williams was named medical director of Le Bonheur’s Trauma Services program in 2017.

In the Memphis metropolitan area, pediatric trauma is often the result of violence. Memphis leads the nation in accidental shootings involving children, according to Safe Tennessee. Memphis Police Department statistics show the city saw a drop in the number of homicides in 2017, but an increase in domestic assaults and other violent crimes.

A study currently underway at Le Bonheur is gathering data related to young gunshot victims and other victims of violence to see where opportunities exist for prevention and education programs. Williams says similar programs in other major cities enroll young victims of violence into programs that help them complete high school diplomas, get jobs and find healthier ways to spend their time.

We know that if you’ve been injured once, you’re more likely to come back with another injury, and usually those injuries are worse each time you come back. From my standpoint, if we can get the 12-year-old gunshot [victim], who may not even have an injury that requires admission to the hospital … but we have that point of access to talk to them, we’re going to get them [into] our program that gives them the necessary tools to rise out of their position in life – then, I think that we can help.”

Williams is also deeply involved in the Stop the Bleed campaign, a national awareness campaign and call to action that came out of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“A lot of those children bled to death because it took a while for EMS to get inside the facility,” says Williams, who notes the campaign is designed to avoid preventable deaths. “If people are trained in the three simple steps to stop bleeding – compression, packing and tourniquet use – they can save lives,” he says.

The American College of Surgeons, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other organizations, have partnered in the grass-roots effort, and locally, Le Bonheur is partnering with other community organizations to provide the simple training.