Dr. Leila Meadows Martin, MD

Born in Clayton, a small town in South East Alabama, Leila Martin, inspired by a pediatrician friend of her fathers, knew by her last year in High School that she wanted to follow a career in medicine. With a BA in Chemistry and after attaining her medical degree, Dr. Martin continued her post graduate education at the University of Alabama in Birmingham where she received a National Institutes of Health Fellowship in Infectious Diseases. It was during this time that she was part of a research team investigating the infertility effects of the Mycoplasma organism. The teams findings were subsequently published in several medical journals. In 1984 Dr. Martin was one of two attending anesthesiologists in a procedure to separate conjoined twins. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, said Martin. The twins both survived the complex eight hour operation. After eleven years with Scottish Rite Childrens Medical Center, Dr. Martin was given the opportunity to join a team of …physicians forming the new surgical department at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital. I had wanted to move to the Highlands area for years, so this was a great opportunity, said Martin. The hospital is unique in what it offers to the community, and in turn the community is unique in its commitment and support of the hospital. In her free time, Dr. Martin enjoys painting, fly-fishing and family time with her nieces and nephews at their family camp at Lake Burton. Her vacations are usually spent in Africa, where she is a volunteer with Integrity Worldwide, a Christian medical organization.