NEXT GEN
Jared Huber, MD
M. Paul Southwick Prize for Clinical Excellence and Teaching
At the start of each rotation at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Hospital, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Hospitalist Jared Huber, MD, tells his new trainees what they can expect. “I start every rotation by telling them they’re going to learn more during this two-week rotation with me than any other part of their residency,” he says. “And that’s not because of what I do, but because the patients we take care of will demand that they grow.”
Huber and a group of trainees—including one second- or third-year internal medicine residency, two interns in their first year of residency, and one medical student—spend their days caring for and learning from 12 to 16 hospitalized cancer patients, many of whom have just received their cancer diagnosis and/or are nearing end of life. The patients are learning too, especially those who have just received a diagnosis. “There’s a lot of learning about what has to happen as you become a cancer patient,” noted Huber. Trainees gain valuable experience having difficult conversations with patients and their family members, often for the first time.
It’s incredibly challenging work, but Huber wouldn’t have it any other way, describing how he “fell into this job that I absolutely love” in an academic medical system he’s long admired. “These are my families and friends, the communities that shaped me.”
Now it’s Huber who is doing the shaping. “Huber is regularly brought up by the internal medicine trainees as one of the most respected and beloved attendings we work with,” wrote third-year resident David Haak, MD, in support of Huber’s nomination.
Trainees appreciate that Huber looks out for their emotional well-being. “He is aware of how his team is faring emotionally and comes up with prompt plans to help,” wrote second-year resident Benjamin Gow-Lee, MD. “On one occasion, he quickly realized an intern was taking care of a patient who had the same cancer as her mother and was feeling distraught. He promptly gave her time to recover and found a way to help the team manage the patient well.”
Receiving the M. Paul Southwick Prize for Clinical Excellence and Teaching was validating, said Huber, given the challenges his patients face. He hopes the confidence trainees develop during his rotation will stay with them long after they’ve moved on.