Talks with Docs | Jason Hunt, MD
Dr. Hunt completed his sub-specialty training Head and Neck Oncology and microvascular reconstruction at Vanderbilt 亚洲自慰视频 after otolaryngology training at Louisiana State 亚洲自慰视频 -New Orleans. He has been at the 亚洲自慰视频 of Utah since 2006 and primarily sees patients at the Huntsman Cancer Institute where he serves as the clinical director of head and neck surgical oncology. His specialty includes the surgical management of tumors in the head and neck as well as reconstruction. He takes care of patients with a wide range of tumors of the head and neck including sarcomas, advanced skin cancer, tongue, throat, larynx (voice box), and sinus tumors. He has a specific interest in thyroid and parathyroid disorders.
Video Transcript
I found something that 滨鈥檓 passionate about and that I love and that I can wake up every morning and not feel like 滨鈥檓 going to a job, but feeling like really I have a career and something 滨鈥檓 passionate about.
滨鈥檓 Jason Hunt. 滨鈥檓 one of the head and neck cancer surgeons. 滨鈥檓 also the disease center leader for the Head and Neck Oncology Group.
What is unique about patient care at Huntsman Cancer Institute?
It鈥檚 not just about moving patients through and having one treatment for that patient. So we have social workers that are in clinic. I also have speech and language pathologists in the head and neck clinic. We鈥攐ur nurses, our medical assistants鈥攁 lot of individuals are talking to patients. And sometimes I learn things from the other staff members that I maybe didn鈥檛 pick up on from the patient.
What is the best part of working at Huntsman Cancer Institute?
The procedures that we do are fascinating procedures, but really it comes down to the patient interactions that you have. 滨鈥檓 fortunate enough to be able to follow patients for a long time in their life, see them grow, see their families change over time. And so you really develop relationships with patients.
Growing up, what was your dream job?
I thought I wanted to be an architect. In architecture, obviously you are designing things to build. And so in head and neck cancer, we not only take out tumors. We also are the ones doing the reconstructions. We鈥檙e having to take bones from other parts of the body to rebuild mandibles, sort of rebuild the jawbone. So there鈥檚 a little bit of correlation. I think that still gives me that creative side that architecture had.
What is your everyday superpower?
There鈥檚 something that needs to be done, to try to figure out how to take care of the problem. And I think that鈥檚 from my growing up. My father always fixed things around the house no matter, if you should be calling someone or not. So I think I picked up some of those skills along the way.
What鈥檚 something your colleagues might not know about you?
I love to fly-fish. I love to be outdoors. And when 滨鈥檓 out fishing, I love to get away from most everything else. So the smaller the water, the further out, the better. One of the perks of moving to Utah was easy access to fly-fishing.
What is the future of head and neck cancer?
It should be mentioned that head and neck cancers鈥 it鈥檚 a rapidly evolving field. We are developing new drugs with the advent of immunotherapy. That鈥檚 becoming more applicable to head and neck cancer. So it鈥檚 kind of an exciting time. For a long time, we just had a few chemotherapies, radiation, and surgery. But there鈥檚 more and more drugs that are coming out.
I think we鈥檙e having more and more options over time.