In Kosciusko there was a doctor whose patients came to him, not only because he could make them better, but also because he could make them laugh.

Then, on a Sunday afternoon in May, the kind of day he lived for, soaking up the countryside on his bike, he was gone - just eight years after a traffic accident had taken one of his sons.

There was no one else like Dr. Gary Holdiness. No one could replace him, or try. Then, in the summer of 2015, a new doctor came to town. His name is Holdiness, too.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is one of 25 hospitals participating in the Sonata™ (Sonography-Guided Transcervical Ablation) study, a clinical device trial to treat uterine fibroids.

“You deliver heat energy directly to the fibroids, which can dry and shrink them,” said Dr. Jay Hudgens, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead investigator for the UMMC study site.

Uterine fibroids are clusters of muscle cells that grow faster than their neighbors.  As many as 80 percent of women will develop uterine fibroids by age 50, but most experience no symptoms. However, if the fibroids are large or numerous, they may cause severe menstrual bleeding, abdominal and back pain or pregnancy complications.

Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) and laparoscopy (using smaller cuts to view and remove fibroids) are the most common treatment options, but both require anesthesia, incisions and an operating room, Hudgens says.

Diversity isn't part of Dr. Juanyce Taylor's title as assistant dean for research and innovation and chair of the Department of Health Services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center's School of Health Related Professions.

A number of interesting events is scheduled for the upcoming week at the Medical Center.