Union City was home to Peter Lawrence, MD, all of his life, and being close to family has always been important to him. But when he fell in love with a Bluegrass girl, he followed her to Kentucky for medical school. The call of home and some great opportunities to hunt and fish, however, led him back to West Tennessee and close to family to settle down.

 

Lawrence's decision to pursue a career in medicine also came from family, through the influence of his father, who retired three years ago from practicing obstetrics and gynecology in Union City. He also attributes some of his desire to study medicine to his enjoyment of science throughout high school and college. "My dad was a huge influence on me," said Lawrence, whose brother is an archeologist/anthropologist. "Growing up the son of a doctor, I pretty much knew all my life I wanted to be a physician and never really thought about anything else."

 

Lawrence met his wife, Bethany, while in college at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Murray is Bethany's hometown and a short, 60-mile drive northeast of Union City. The two married two weeks before Lawrence started medical school, a fact that significantly influenced his choice in medical school. "Bethany was a year ahead of me in school and also wanted to be a doctor," said Lawrence. "When I graduated and we got married, she was already in medical school. Since she was a Kentucky resident, she applied and was accepted to the University of Louisville School of Medicine. So I followed her."

 

Their luck held out and Bethany was accepted into an internship in Louisville while Lawrence finished medical school. The two then headed to Indiana for their residencies. Lawrence completed a two-year residency in general surgery, followed by a four-year urology residency at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis with rotations at Wishard Memorial Hospital, Roudebush VA Medical Center and Riley Hospital for Children and Indiana University Hospital, which are now a part of the Clarian Health system.

 

His decision to go with urology as his specialty came from three areas; the variety of patients seen, the opportunity to perform a vast amount of surgery as a part of his practice and the type of family lifestyle he would be able to maintain. "Urology allows a physician to see a wide gamut of patients from men to women and adults, seniors and even kids," said Lawrence, who was attracted to the nearly equal split of surgery with medicine and diagnosis the specialty offers. "It is also a specialty that tends to allow time to raise a family, which was important to not only me but my wife, who is an internal medicine physician."

 

When the dual career couple finished their residencies, they knew they wanted to practice close to their families, hers in Murray and his in Union City, so they looked from the Nashville area and west. Both found practices to join in Jackson, which was a right-sized town that contained a medical community with which they were both comfortable. In July 2004, Lawrence joined the medical staff of Jackson Urological Associates.

 

"I spent quite a bit of time with several of the partners in the group when I was looking at practices," said Lawrence. I was really drawn to this group as we shared the same philosophy. The medical community was also of a size that would allow me to provide the level of care here I wanted for my patients without having to send them out of town for services. Jackson is also close to Reelfoot and Kentucky Lakes which allow me time to indulge in some of my favorite pastimes: hunting water fowl and fishing."

 

It is his passion for fishing for large-mouth and small-mouth bass that has led to a unique relationship for Lawrence. "The largest small-mouth bass I have ever caught was 8 pounds 8 ounces, which is a good size for that species of fish," said Lawrence. "In fact, it is only one ounce shy of the line class world record for small-mouth bass, a record that my medical partner and fishing buddy, Scott Yarbro holds. It was Scott who got me interested in small-mouth bass fishing to begin with."

 

Lawrence's passions for hunting and fishing have taken him all over the United States and Canada. He has made the trip north to Manitoba, Canada, five times to hunt ducks and geese and has even gone to Costa Rica on a sail-fishing excursion. These days, though, his hunting and fishing are a bit closer to home.

 

Three and a half years ago, the Lawrence clan grew from a dual career medical couple to a family of three with the birth of their son, Andrew. Two years ago, they raised the number one more with the addition of daughter, Sarah, to the family. "Although we may have waited awhile to start our family, we have definitely made up for lost time," said Lawrence, who can be found most weekends on Kentucky Lake at the family's cabin. "We love to go out in the boat as well as fishing and swimming with the kids. When they are older, I am going to take them to Costa Rica fishing."