2018

Jane Schell MD, MHS, is an assistant professor in nephrology and palliative care at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Health System.  She completed her medical school training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Subsequently, Dr. Schell completed a dual fellowship in nephrology and palliative medicine as well as a Masters in Health Sciences at Duke University. Since then, she has been on faculty at the University of Pittsburgh as a clinician-educator. Dr. Schell is recognized for expertise in subspecialty palliative care education within nephrology. She was awarded the William

I chose this field because I learned that I was most able to help people when I had time to sit down with them, explore their hopes and fears, and walk them through one of the most difficult times in their lives. By taking the whole person, as well as their family members, into consideration, I tailor my approach to care to meet their wishes and needs. My areas of expertise include palliative care, pain and symptom management, helping patients with complex decisions and, if needed, end-of-life and hospice care. I feel privileged to get to know each of my

Dr. Saroyan became interested in end-of-life care when he was 15 years old, after his favorite high school teacher’s son died at the age of five. Dr. Arthur Ablin, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco, was assigned to be Dr. Saroyan’s mentor the following summer in a program for high school students interested in medicine.  Dr. Ablin’s influence extended far beyond that summer.  An early proponent of terminally ill children with cancer dying at home, Dr. Ablin became a mentor and friend that influenced Dr. Saroyan’s every word and movement in hospice, palliative, and

Gregg VandeKieft traces his desire to be a physician back to at least 4thgrade. To assure his career choice was what he thought it was, as a 19-year-old pre-medical student he worked as a nursing assistant on a cancer unit at a university hospital. Although he didn’t know the term yet, it was in this work that he first encountered palliative care. The highly personal interactions he had as a nursing assistant with patients experiencing serious illness, including witnessing their suffering from both disease and its treatments, were foundational in forming his vision for the clinician he aspired to be.

Jolion McGreevy, MD, MBE, MPH,director of undergraduate medical education and assistant residency director, emergency medicine, Boston Medical Center. Working at the largest safety-net hospital in New England, Dr. McGreevy has distinguished himself with the ability to engage underserved patients with limited knowledge of end-of-life care options and decision-making. His nominator praised him for “working tirelessly to address the disparities our patients face” and providing “compassionate and culturally competent care to each and every one of his patients.”