center profile
Some Degree of Peace
For a person with diverse commitments, Ed Partridge, M. D., manages an untroubled attitude toward his life and work that seems to allow him to accomplish more rather than less.
Even though he gives 110 percent as a surgeon specializing in gynecologic oncology, teacher, clinical researcher, administrator, husband, and father of five ranging in age from 10 to 21, he says,“ I really don’ t get stressed too often. The same problems – or new ones – will still be around years from now when I am long forgotten. I just don’ t worry about things I can’ t change. This is the only way to achieve some degree of peace.”
He does, however, spend a lot of time trying to change whatever holds promise for improvement. This quest for making things better drives his approach to treating his patients and his efforts to enhance the quality of cancer screening, diagnosis, and care available to people of all backgrounds over the state.
Having spent a care-free, happy boyhood in the small town of Demopolis, Alabama, Ed Partridge enjoys a special rapport with rural Alabamians. He brings valuable insight to his role as co-principal investigator of the Cancer Center’ s Rural Cancer Control Program because he grew up in the Black Belt area to be served by this important effort.“ I wouldn’ t take anything for having grown up in a small town where a child can have enormous independence,” he reminisces.“ In the‘ 50s and‘ 60s, we weren’ t worried about crime or kidnapping. I can remember at age 7 or 8 leaving home at 6 o’ clock in the morning and not having to check back in until sunset. We had to be home by dark; that was the only rule.”
On a typical summer day, he and his younger brother would take off with their friends to the river. They loved to skim along in a wooden boat built by his grandfather and equipped with a two horsepower Johnson motor.“ We would swim and play all day long,” Dr. Partridge says.“ We also liked to go on hikes in cotton country. I still have vivid memories of catching the school bus Friday afternoons and going to the country to spend the weekends with friends.”
In his view, another valuable experience gained from living in a small town was the opportunity to associate with people of different backgrounds.“ Because there’ s only one elementary school,” he says,“ you learn early in life to interact with all types of people and to appreciate their perspective. In a small town, you also have many opportunities for leadership and for doing things that boost your self-confidence.
For him, these opportunities included playing all sports in school and serving as president of the high school student body.“ We had an incredible high school class,” he says.“ In a class of only 46, four of us became physicians, two were merit scholars, several became engineers, and one is a brilliant lawyer who practices here in Birmingham.”
The lawyer is Mabry Rogers, one of only two survivors of the tragic commuter plane crash that killed 13 people last year when it went down in an Ensley neighborhood during a severe thunderstorm.
“ Mabry was my best friend in high school, and now we teach an adult Sunday School class together at the Church of the Advent,” Dr. Partridge says.“ I was raised a Catholic, but my wife Barbara was a Baptist. About 15 years ago we decided to choose a church that would be a compromise both of us would be comfortable with, so we became Episcopalians. Barbara also teaches a Sunday School class at the Advent – for the three- and four-year olds.”
The Partridges met when he was a resident at UAB Hospital and she was a staff nurse in the high-risk nursery. For most of their married life, Barbara Partridge, a native of Hueytown, has dedicated herself to homemaking and rearing a family of five“ super” children, according to Dr. Partridge.“ Barbara loves children,” he says with obvious pride.“ She’ s a born mother and would be delighted to have 100 children. She’ s incredible – a very loving mother, but also a good disciplinarian.”
It isn’ t surprising that he credits his family with being the source of his strength.“ Going home to a loving, caring, accepting family gives me a sense of renewal. It keeps life in perspective and allows me to get through the kind of day I typically have,” he says.
Dr. Partridge’ s day at UAB begins when many of us are just turning off our alarm clocks and often doesn’ t end until long after sunset.
“ A day in academic medicine is busy,” he comments.“ I was in private practice for 10 years before joining the full-time faculty here. Then I had more time just to reflect, read the newspapers, and get involved in the community. In academic medicine, the patient care responsibilities are about the same as in private practice, but added to that are teaching, research, and administrative duties that require a lot of time and effort.”
The opportunity to get into academic medicine came to Ed Partridge at age 43 – earlier than he had anticipated.“ I always thought I’ d like to retire from private practice at about age 55 to spend more time teaching,” he says.“ But two years ago, after Dr. Ken Hatch left UAB, Dr. Hugh Shingleton offered me the chance to direct the gynecologic oncology program. After a lot of soulsearching and discussion, we were fortunate to be able to work out a plan that was a win-win situation for me and for my partners, Drs. Max Austin and Larry Kilgore.”
Dr. Partridge answers without hesitation when asked what motivated him to go into medicine.“ I never wanted to be anything but a doctor. My father was a lawyer, but I was always fascinated by the idea of practicing medicine. My first medical mentor was Dr. Dunning, a general practitioner in Demopolis who took out my tonsils when I was 5 and attended to my scrapes and cuts. In those days, it was traditional for the young folks to go barefoot from
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