12-31-11
Dr. Samuel M. Atkinson, Jr. retires from Carolina Women's Physicians
Dr. Samuel M. Atkinson, Jr. has retired from Carolina Women’s Physicians, P.A. effective December 31, 2011. Atkinson has been a physician at Carolina Women’s Physicians since April 2009.

A native of Conway, S.C., Dr. Atkinson’s medical career spans almost 50 years. During his time at Carolina Women’s Physicians, he concurrently served as a Professor Emeritus at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He spent more than 20 years prior to joining Carolina Women’s Physicians as a full-time professor and associate professor. Atkinson moved to eastern North Carolina in 1985 from Florida, where he served as Chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Humana Hospital.

Since beginning his career, Atkinson has received numerous awards, including the Excellence in Teaching Award from The Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Medical Foundation in 2002. He was also awarded the Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident Teaching Award in both 1999 and 1994.

Throughout his professional career as a physician, Atkinson has earned three certifications, served on five panels, been cited in nearly 20 journals and has been a member of more than 35 professional committees.

Atkinson received his medical degree from Duke University in Durham, N.C. in 1961, and his Bachelor of Arts from Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. in 1957.

Former patients of Dr. Atkinson should call for appointments with Carolina Women’s Physicians. Carolina Women’s Physicians is located at 2450 Emerald Place in Greenville. Office hours are conducted Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling (252) 355-7805, and more information click here.

9-25-11
Carolina Women's Releases NEW Obstetrics Book for New Parents
Carolina Women's Physicians would proudly like to share our Obstetrics Book for new parents to download, available ONLY for Carolina Women's patients. click here.

8-05-11
Have Your Questions Answered by a Professional - Q&A
Carolina Women's Physicians would proudly like to display our NEW section entitled "Caring While Pregnant" on our website dedicated to user submited questions and answered by our Physicians and Professional Staff, ASK YOUR QUESTION NOW!.

7-12-11
"Latest Arrivals" Baby Counter Launch!
Carolina Women's Physicians would proudly like to display our NEW section entitled "Latest Arrivals" on our website dedicated to deliveries performed by CWP, click here.

10-5-10 (back to top)
Carolina Women's Welcomes Sarah Miller, FNP
Carolina Women's Physicians would proudly like to welcome Sarah Miller and her family to the Greenville and to Carolina Women's Physicians. To read more about Sarah, click here.

6-15-10 (back to top)
New Website Launched

InTandem Inc. serves as the Agency of Record for Carolina Women’s Physicians, a practice opened by Dr. Jennifer Ferguson in 2003. The practice is dedicated to personalized care for women in Greenville and surrounding areas.

The newly designed Carolina Women’s Physician website features a detailed description of the gynecologic and obstetric services offered by the practice, a list of the physicians, as well as maps and directions to the practice.

The website also provides the practice’s forms online, as a convenience for patients to complete before arriving for an appointment.  New user links direct readers to supplemental information on specific medical conditions and related information.

12-19-01 (back to top)
ECU Surgeon Passes Milestone - Archive Article Now on Web
Brody School of Medicine surgeons have performed the first total laparoscopic hysterectomy in North Carolina using the da Vinci surgical system, officials reported. The surgery was performed on a 48-year-old woman Dec. 13 at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, the 731-bed teaching hospital of East Carolina University’s medical school.

The procedure was performed by Drs. Jennifer Ferguson, Todd Beste and Keith Nelson, all of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The patient was hospitalized for 36 hours after surgery and is now recuperating well at home, officials reported. She will be seen in six weeks for a follow-up appointment.

“Even with her severe scarring, the surgery went well using the da Vinci,” Ferguson said. “It was a difficult hysterectomy. . . . da Vinci allowed us to perform a laparoscopic hysterectomy instead of a large traditional incision, thus cutting her recovery time in half.” With the da Vinci Surgical System, surgeons make three dim-sized incisions in the abdomen to allow the insertion of the three robotic arms. One arm holds a tiny camera that projects three-dimensional images onto a monitor.

The other two arms hold pencil-sized instruments, which have tiny computerized mechanical “wrists” designed to transmit the dexterity of the surgeon’s forearm and wrist into the abdomen at the operative site.

Seated at a computer console several feet away from the operating table, the surgeon views a magnified, three-dimensional image and manipulates the surgical instruments using two joystick-like devices.

Ferguson and Beste first used da Vinci to perform bilateral tubal ligations before moving to the more complex hysterectomy operation. “Currently, gynecologic robotic minimally invasive surgery is in its infancy,” Beste said, “We first trained in the lab where we were able to do similar procedures in a secure environment.”

The hysterectomy is another first for the surgical teams at ECU and PCMH and demonstrates the medical school’s leadership in the field of robotic surgery, said Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, chairman of the ECU Department of Surgery and a nationally recognized leader in robotic surgery.

Chitwood performed the first total repair of the heart’s mitral valve in North America using da Vinci in May 2000.

ECU surgeons also performed the first adrenalectomy in the United States using the da Vinci Surgical System.

The medical school also is leading a national multicenter clinical trial using da Vinci for mitral valve repair. Chitwood serves as principal investigator of the six-hospital study. “This latest application of the advanced technology that da Vinci affords surgeons demonstrates the ability of our surgeons to move this technology into new areas to benefit patients with shorter recovery times and less pain,” Chitwood said.

Beste is optimistic about the role that the surgical robot will play in the future of surgical gynecologic procedures. “The role of this advanced, minimally invasive technique is still being explored,” he said. “It is possible that 20 percent of gynecologic minimally invasive surgery may be done this way in the future.” ECU surgeons pass milestone in robotic

The Daily Reflector
December 19, 2001