Our Doctors
William Walker / H. Andrew Poret
William Walker, M.D., F.A.C.S.
By the time he entered high school, William Walker knew he wanted to be a doctor. While attending Mercer University in Georgia, he got his first exposure to healthcare as an orderly at a local hospital. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Walker completed medical school at the University of South Florida, attending on a Navy scholarship. Exempted from active duty for seven years, Dr. Walker trained in general surgery at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Tennessee-Memphis. Dr. Walker served on active duty at the San Diego Naval Hospital. In 1991, he served with the Marines during Desert Storm, working at a field hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Completing his Navy commitment, he was asked to join the faculty of UT-Memphis, training young surgeons to perform heart and thoracic operations before coming to practice in Johnson City.
Dr. Walker is board certified in general and thoracic surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Walker's academic background keeps him on the cutting edge of new techniques, while his level of care continues to be one of the most personal.
H. Andrew Poret, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Dr. Poret was born in the hospital his great grandfather began in Villa Platte, Louisiana, a small rural township. Raised in Baton Rouge, he traveled back to his hometown every summer to visit his family and grew up wanting to be a dentist just like his grandfather. He was awarded a full scholarship to Louisiana State University and began his predentistry training. But after a part-time job working with a prostodontist, Dr. Poret didn't have the same conviction toward the practice of dentistry. He soon landed a job helping clean and prepare the operating rooms at Baton Rouge General Hospital and found his calling. He immediately changed his focus to premed and when it came time to choose his specialty, he opted for surgery.
Dr. Poret completed five years of General Surgery at the University of Tennessee at Memphis where he was a student of Dr. William Walker, one of the founding partners of the Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Group (CVT) and who was instrumental in his choice of cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Poret joined the Navy Reserve Medical Corps in 1989 because of his personal commitment to serve his country. After completing a two-year Fellowship in Cardiothoracic surgery in 1996, he joined a leading private practice in Memphis. Six years later, his mentor and friend, Dr. Walker, called and asked him to join CVT Surgery.
Dr. Poret is also a lifelong student of the martial arts, believing the lessons taught to him through his training, sacrifice, dedication and hard work, have been instrumental in his success as a doctor.
Dr. Poret is a board certified surgical specialist in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery.
