{"id":155505,"date":"2026-02-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=155505"},"modified":"2026-02-15T18:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:25:35","slug":"doctors-gift-helps-keep-health-care-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/doctors-gift-helps-keep-health-care-close-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor’s Gift Helps Keep Health Care Close to Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Community pediatrician creates award to shift students’ focus<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“Love this clinic! I went here as a kid and now my kids go here. Dr. Vig is the best.” \u2013 Percyanna Henderson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My son and I both absolutely love Dr. Vig and her staff. Dr. Vig always makes time to listen to every concern and find a solution.” \u2013 Kolton Davis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Dr. Vig has been my kids’ doctor for 13 years. I always value her opinions and plan to keep coming to her to meet my children’s medical needs.” \u2013 Wyatt R. Slater<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All three of my kids have been going to this clinic since birth and their ages now are 20, 17 and 13. Dr. Vig and her staff are awesome.” \u2013 Dejurrua Nelson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the kinds of comments that Dr. Vibha Vig<\/strong> fears new doctors will never hear: heartfelt sentiments formed over years, decades even, as the relationship between physician and patient deepens to something more familial and trusted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young doctors, increasingly, are choosing cities over communities, sacrificing relationship building for higher salaries. To help incentivize new physicians to consider small-town medicine, Vig has made a $50,000 gift to the\u00a0University of Mississippi Medical Center<\/strong><\/a>. The funds will support a scholarship for third-year residents interested in pursuing a career in community pediatrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I just feel that by setting up this scholarship, the pediatric residents will learn just how rewarding the community pediatric practice is,” said Vig, whose pediatric practice in Canton, Carthage<\/strong>, and Yazoo City<\/strong> has seen some 60,000 patients since it opened 30 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Community practice is where these young doctors can make a change; that’s where they can have a niche. They can create their legacy, establish their name and make a difference. It is very rewarding, and I feel that they are lacking in that experience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Mary Taylor<\/strong>, the Suzan B. Thames Chair and professor of pediatrics and CEO of\u00a0Children’s of Mississippi<\/strong><\/a>, expressed gratitude for Vig’s vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Community medicine plays a vital role in pediatrics by focusing on pediatric health at the population level \u2013 something that’s becoming increasingly rare, yet crucial, in our state,” Taylor said. “As Dr. Vig knows, the benefits a family pediatrician can provide are prevention of disease, early intervention, easy access to care, consistent management of chronic conditions and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Her vision to inspire young doctors to choose community medicine is admirable and we greatly appreciate her gift.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vig completed her initial medical degree in India, her home country, and practiced general medicine in rural communities there for about a year before starting six-month rotations in pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology. Meanwhile, UMMC hired her husband, Dr. Parminder Vig, and the couple moved to Jackson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parminder Vig, who retired recently as professor and director of neurology research at the Medical Center, continues to serve as professor emeritus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, Vig completed her pediatric residency training at Batson Children’s Hospital<\/strong>. She then began practicing in Meridian<\/strong>, where she treated underserved children for two years before starting her Canton practice in 1995. She launched a satellite pediatric clinic in Carthage in 2002 and a third location in Yazoo City in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple’s son, Dr. Khushdeep Vig<\/strong>, is an orthopedic-trauma surgeon in Des Moines, Iowa<\/strong>, and their daughter, Dr. Simmy Vig<\/strong>, is a second-year pediatric resident at the University of Arkansas<\/strong> for Medical Sciences<\/strong> in Little Rock<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides sponsoring the Boys & Girls Clubs<\/strong> and the Dyslexia Foundation<\/strong>, serving on the board of trustees at the Madison Merit River Oaks Hospital<\/strong> \u2013 now UMMC<\/strong> \u2013 and conducting health education seminars at local schools, Vig continues to provide care for hundreds of children each year, supported by her passion to relieve their pain and suffering close to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The longevity of the practice and trying to grow with the families has been very rewarding,” she said. “And now, all the children I took care of have become parents and they bring their children to me. It is a really good feeling to become the ‘Grand Pediatrician.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I can catch up on their careers and see where they’ve been in life. This practice has been like a chapter book of experiences.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bill Dabney<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Vibha Vig has made a $50,000 gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to support medical students who are interested in community pediatrics. She operates a pediatric practice in Canton, Carthage and Yazoo City. Photo by Bill Dabney\/UM Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Vig family, including (from left) Khushdeep , Simmy, Parminder and Vibha, are all physicians. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Drs. Parminder (left) and Vibha Vig. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Vibha Vig examines a young patient in her clinic. Vig, who operates a pediatric practice in Canton, Carthage and Yazoo City, has made a $50,000 gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Community pediatrician creates award to shift students’ focus “Love this clinic! I went here as a kid and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123462,"featured_media":155510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17687],"tags":[14476,2696,1729,20771,21903,33654,32104,33655,33652,4713,366,3030,2837,5,7067,4,25147,19990,655,5045,3141],"class_list":["post-155505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-of-mississippi","tag-batson-childrens-hospital","tag-canton","tag-carthage","tag-childrens-of-mississippi","tag-des-moines","tag-dr-khushdeep-vig","tag-dr-mary-taylor","tag-dr-simmy-vig","tag-dr-vibha-vig","tag-iowa","tag-jackson","tag-little-rock","tag-meridian","tag-mississippi","tag-ole-miss","tag-oxford","tag-university-of-arkansas","tag-university-of-arkansas-for-medical-sciences","tag-university-of-mississippi","tag-university-of-mississippi-medical-center","tag-yazoo-city"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Vig-with-patient-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1576&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155505"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155512,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155505\/revisions\/155512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}