Local obstetrician Dr. Dennis Wieck loves the joy involved in delivering babies.

"People are so happy and upbeat when it comes to having babies; there are just a lot of ups," Wieck said. That's what drew him to obstetrics when he was in medical school.

The field of medicine has been something Wieck has been interested in since childhood, but when he attended Middle Tennessee State University he majored in aerospace administration.

"When I was a kid, I said I was going to be a doctor, but when I got to college I knew I was also interested in flying, and so many other things," he said.

While at MTSU, Wieck got involved in the ROTC program and enlisted in the Army National Guard. He also decided he wanted to become an emergency medical technician and included EMT classes in his busy schedule, primarily so he could become a scuba instructor. Wieck's interests were varied, and his schedule was full.

He went to work for an ambulance service in Murfreesboro and soon became assistant director, all the while maintaining a full load of classes at MTSU.

The doctors Wieck worked with while with the ambulance service encouraged him to go on into medicine. So after graduating from MTSU he enrolled in the medical school at UT-Memphis, where he studied from August 1982 until June 1986.

Wieck did his residency at Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, W.Va., and in July 1990 returned to Tennessee and started practicing obstetrics in Tullahoma. He moved to Dyersburg in 2003 to work as an OB-GYN with Brentwood-based Community Health Services (CHS).

When CHS purchased Bedford County Medical Center, it immediately began recruiting doctors to come to Shelbyville. Wieck was asked to transfer back to Middle Tennessee so CHS could bring a board certified OB-GYN practitioner to work at the hospital.

"My wife Leigh and I were both raised in Nashville, and my kids went to school in Tullahoma, so we were glad to be able to move back to this area," Wieck said. "I've been in practice here in Shelbyville since February of 2007. So, it's been a year now, and things have gone real well. CHS runs the business side of my practice which makes it real nice for me. So, I'm an employee of the hospital."

Wieck got quite a few of his old patients back from his days in Tullahoma, and is always looking forward to taking new patients.

"I'll be glad when we can get into the new hospital," he said. "There are now two board certified OB-GYNs here in town practicing obstetrics. Dr. Jan Crean and I are both Fellows of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and I believe people will be more willing to stay in Bedford County to have their babies now that we are both here. We're trying to bring OB-GYN services back to the community."

Wieck is also a Fellow in the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and the American Association of Gynecologic Laproscopists (belly button surgery).

Aside from practicing obstetrics and raising two daughters with his wife, Wieck's interests run from airplanes to pistols. He is building a light sport aircraft. He is a ham radio operator and helps with the Emergency Management Agency. He works with lighting and sound for plays and other theatrical productions in Tullahoma. And he is a member of the Middle Tennessee Shooters Club and the International Defensive Pistol Association.

"I'm interested in so many different things, but I love delivering babies and getting to know the families I work with," Wieck said. "I enjoy obstetrics because we have a mix of surgery and medicine, and you get to know your patients."

To contact Dr. Dennis Wieck call 685-5522. His office is located in Suite 202 of the Medical Arts Building, 841 Union St.