The Hart family on vacation in Turks and Caicos. |
With his wife, Dr. Anna Hart, and their children Emma, Benjamin and Jacob. |
With his wife, Dr. Anna Hart, and their children |
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Emma, Benjamin and Jacob. |
( continued from page 39) into the lab. Ultimately, I did some research, I learned about multiple myeloma, and I considered staying at Vanderbilt, but I wanted to get out and start seeing patients.”
That decision set him firmly on the path of hematology oncology, which he pursued a second fellowship in, after his research fellowship. As he finished training in 2012, he considered options in Nashville, Indianapolis and even back home in Evansville. But a call from Dr. John Huber, a Louisville physician and fellow Vanderbilt alumnus, proved decisive.
“ Dr. Huber knew the program director at Vanderbilt, and he reached out to ask if she knew anyone who might want to join the practice,” he said.“ She put the two of us in touch and I came and interviewed. Most of my life I planned to go back to Evansville, but there wasn’ t an opportunity there at that moment, so Louisville was the next closest option. This just seemed to make sense.”
Thirteen years later, he is still with the same practice at Baptist Health Louisville, a place he describes as collegial and patient-centered. Dr. Hart splits his time between the Baptist Kresge office in St. Matthews and the Eastpoint clinic, with hospital rounds every five to six weeks. He also participates in early-morning tumor boards, now often via Zoom or phone call.
“ I try to use my time as efficiently as I can,” he said.“ I’ m often the one who takes kids to school and taking a call from the car. I’ m always working ahead, preparing for what’ s next the next day.”
Regardless of the preparation, though, the work can be emotionally taxing.“ I get pretty attached to some patients, and if their outcome is not what I wanted, that hurts,” he said.“ I have to distract myself with something else. There has to be a barrier, otherwise it would be devastating to look at all day long.”
For Dr. Hart, the most rewarding moments come when treatment changes the trajectory of a patient’ s life.“ The most gratifying are the patients I can cure,” he said.“ I don’ t get a lot of thank-yous; they don’ t come as often as you think they would. But I had a patient the other day who came in and his wife told me that their 50th wedding anniversary was coming up and that they wouldn’ t be celebrating without me. That was cool.”
Whether it’ s curing a cancer or giving IV iron to help anemia, Dr. Hart finds meaning in seeing patients meet milestones like birthdays, anniversaries and graduations that might never have been possible otherwise.“ To know that they have life-threatening illnesses, and that they would die pretty quickly, and we can pull them through and actually cure them, that’ s really gratifying,” he reflected.
Dr. Hart’ s personal life has been deeply intertwined with medicine as well. While at Vanderbilt, he met his future wife, Dr. Anna Hart, who now practices infectious disease at Baptist Health.
“ We knew each other just from being in training, I was two years ahead of her,” he said.“ When I started my research fellowship, I was moonlighting at the VA in the emergency department, and she was assigned to be my resident one night. We worked together, and it just took off from there.”
They married in 2010 in Evansville, with her family traveling from Poland for the celebration. Today, they have three children: Emma, 13, Benjamin, 11, and Jacob, 8. The boys are involved in Scouts and sports ranging from football to basketball to baseball, while Emma recently started playing field hockey. Dr. Hart cherishes his role as a father, often shuttling between practices and games.
When not at work, he embraces a mix of family activities, outdoor adventures and intellectual curiosity. He has served as a Cub Scout
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