Jackson Free Press

Dr. Edwin Dodd, director of the Jackson Pain Center and medical director of Physician's Surgery Center, recently received accolades from his patients.

Only 5 percent of the nation's more than 870,000 active physicians consistently receive top scores from patients, reports the Patients' Choice Foundation, which reviews online rankings of physicians submitted by millions of patients on sites like Vitals in selecting winners of the Patients' Choice Award. 
Dodd, 54, has been practicing for more than 23 years. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi. He then attended medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center followed by residency training at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

According to Dodd, the most important part of his medical training was his fellowship training in pain management, which he undertook at Wake Forest as well as the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston and the University of South Australia.

"I got to work with two of the biggest pain leaders in the world at the time I trained: Dr. Prithzi Raj in Texas and Dr. Michael Cousins in Australia," Dodd said. "I went to those places specifically to learn from those doctors."

"I practice interventional pain management," Dodd said. "That is the application of minimally invasive techniques for back, leg and neck pain. I typically see patients that have ruptured discs or neck pain radiating to their arms. We provide a significant amount of improvement for the majority of those patients. I council patients on exercises and on how to avoid aggravating their conditions. I coach them on activities to improve their physical condition and how to stretch and avoid hurting themselves."

Dodd enjoys being able to do so much to relieve people who are in pain.

"During my residency, I was exposed to pain management and thoroughly enjoyed the ability to have a significant impact on people's pain with the procedures we performed," Dodd said. "I ended up focusing on that for the majority of my career. I wanted to be a physician my entire life, and the fact that, on a daily basis, I see people who come back and their back or neck pain is significantly improved makes my days rewarding."

Born and raised in Jackson, Dodd still lives in the city with his wife, Rhonda, and their 7-year-old son, John.

For more information on the Jackson Pain Center, visit www.jacksonpaincenter.net or call 601-355-7246.