Evo Terra (Host): It's always good to get to know the person behind the doctor, so we're excited to get to know Dr. Jared Hogan, a pediatric pulmonologist at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I'm Evo Terra, and this is The Peds Pod by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Dr. Hogan, welcome to the show.

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Well, thank you for having me, Evo.

Host: Can you share a bit about what inspired you to specialize in Pediatric Pulmonology?

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Absolutely. I mean, I first got into medicine, really just interested in the human body as a whole. Then, I went through medical school there in Central Arkansas where I'm from originally. From there, I came into residency for combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, because I just really couldn't choose between the two. I liked aspects of both of it. And then, sometime during residency, if you would've known me back then, I would've been a pediatric cardiologist. And it wasn't until my last rotation of residency, right before I started my chief year in pediatrics that I got to rotate through Pediatric Pulmonology, and it kind of changed the game and allowed me to really jump off one ship and hop onto another. And I saw just this patient population that was in need. And I really thought and could see how just the little bit of interventions that the pediatric pulmonologist was able to do for these patients. A little airway treatment here, a little nebulizer there, I was able to keep some of these really complex medical kids at home and with better quality of life. And so, I've always told myself to go where the need is greatest, and I felt at home in Pediatric Pulmonology. And so, I decided to stay.

Host: The little small changes can make a lot. I understand that. Speaking of little, you are dealing with the youth, you're dealing with the children, which I assume is a different approach than when you're treating adults.

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Yes, it is a different approach. It is just different etiologies. Some of what we see, you know, presents a little bit more so in the younger years as opposed to the older years, less likely having to deal with a lot of the, tobacco abuse and those sorts of things. So, we also get the interesting aspect of seeing some of these congenital disorders, some malformations. And so, we're always on our toes in Pediatric Pulmonology, but we keep it back to the basics where it's very much based in Physiology. So, we can always harken back to that to really understand the why of a lot of these patients. And it's really kind of what helps drive us.

Host: That's great. Yeah. And I would imagine working with children, you're not concerned about breaking them of really bad habits that they've had for 40 years, like the grown people in the world. Now, how did you come to work at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital?

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Well, I mean that all started back during my search for residency. I was going across the country, looking for Internal Medicine and Pediatric programs. And on the end of about a two-week stint, I ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, interviewing with Le Bonheur Children's Hospital as well as the adult facilities because, again, the combined residency. And I really just felt at home. It was a different feeling that I had from any of the other programs. So, I just felt this warm and fuzzy on the inside. And then, following that interview, I left to go back home to Central Arkansas. And I just kind of knew it in my heart of hearts that I was going to end up here. And luckily, I did whenever I matched. And then, I just continued on my residency. My residency was four years. I liked it so much and loved the people and not only the people that I worked with, but the people that I worked around with as well. Those that are in the like coffee shop, in the lunch room. Like, I got to know any and everybody around the hospital. And it just really felt like a secondary home to me, especially whenever I was away from Central Arkansas. And so, it made me want to do the chief year in Pediatrics to understand a little bit more. And then, that's again where I felt like, "Okay, Pediatric Pulmonology, let's keep on this train." Stayed here for my fellowship, still continuing to get to know and love and understand everybody that works here. And I decided this is where I want to plant my roots and continue to stay.

Host: You mentioned getting into this place like home, and I know from speaking to a lot of doctors, the hospital is your second home. You'll oftentimes spend way too much time in that area, I know. Now, I've also learned that you spend a lot of your time about 90 miles away from the main hospital over in Jackson. What's going on there?

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: funny story, I mean, about six-ish months ago is whenever my wife, my child and I moved to Jackson, Tennessee. My wife ended up taking a position there in the neonatal unit as a Speech-Language pathologist. And because of that move, it made us really consider moving to that area. And once I started opening up that consideration, I saw the big need again. I've told myself that I need to go where the need is greatest. So, there was a need in Jackson that needed to be filled. And so, I said, "Okay, let's go ahead and do this." And so, I started working with my division on how would this look? You know, can it be the reverse of what a lot of our other physicians who go out to our satellite locations to and where Jackson would kind of be my home? I was able to get that settled with our division. And then, on my weekends and my off time, you know, whenever I'm so busy doing everything else, I also moonlight as a pediatric hospitalist, and I'd been doing that here in the main campus in Memphis for about two years. And then, just knew that the unit up there at Jackson General, their Le Bonheur unit was in need. So, I decided to go up there and help out, and I really got to know all those people too. And so, it's great family from head to toe.

Host: That's good to know. I grew up in a rural part of the world as well. So, I can definitely understand the need to have some people who are local in the area, but maybe you can talk to me for about that for just a moment. You know, as you mentioned, a lot of hospitals will just send their doctors out to the various areas. But now, you've got that outpatient care center right there. How important is community health at the community level?

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: It is extremely important, and everything is always a learning aspect. You're always learning, you're always striving for more. And as I moved out there and started to understand through my hospitalist shifts, that there is just a great need in the community. There are no pediatric pulmonologists between Memphis and Nashville. There just isn't anybody there. So, a lot of these community physicians are having to do what they can to help these kids out. Oftentimes, it ends up with them needing to come to the hospital for acute care and kind of tuneups and those sorts of things. But they really needed the resources and, it's been fun getting to know a lot of these community physicians and being able to help out.

I'm also in communications with the UT Family Medicine program who provides a lot of community care out in the Jackson area and the local-- and the surrounding areas, I should say. So, I'm working with them to provide learning opportunities to provide lectures and teaching to get them to understand some of the aspects of pediatric pulmonary care so that they too can take that knowledge and skillset outward with them while they stay in their respective communities.

Host: Yeah, this begs the question, I'm sorry, exactly when do you see your wife? No, I'm kidding obviously. You sound like you're a busy guy. Yeah. And she also sounds like she's a busy person as well, definitely. You know, okay. So, speaking of family, here's another question for you. You know, when you're dealing with-- you know, the doctors see patients. But when you're in Pediatrics, you don't just see the patient. You see parents and sometimes even overactive grandparents. Why are you looking at me? So, talk to me about that, the role parents play in the process of doing anything, I guess, really with a child specialist.

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Oh, absolutely. Parents are pivotal and you have to have buy-in, not only from the patient, but also from the parents, because ultimately in a lot of the interventions that I prescribe, the inhalers and things like that. A lot of the children are too young to do it on their own, so they need the help of the parent to give them these medications. And so, they too have to understand exactly why we're doing the things that we're doing. So oftentimes, as you alluded to, it's not just me educating the child, it's also me educating the parents on why this is important and why we should worry about things like the allergens in the air, the importance of reflux and how that plays on asthmatic care and like how we need to stay away from smoke exposure as best we can. I mean, I know I kind of I joked at that earlier about kids not, the ones necessarily smoking, but parents and grandparents do. And so, sometimes I have to get on my soapbox with them and tell them, "It's best for your child, if you were to go ahead and quit, and it would be better for you in the long run too." So, it's like I have a lot of these counseling sessions that aren't just with the patient, but also with the family.

Host: One last question, specific to parents of children who are having respiratory problems. I happen to be married with a woman who has had asthma since she was 18 years old and has dealt with it, now we're significantly older than 18 right now. But as a child, what advice do you have for those parents? Or I guess maybe what good news do you have for parents who have a child that either isn't diagnosed with or they fear might be diagnosed with respiratory issues?

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: What I like to tell parents and help support them is that I am going to do what I can and a lot of these interventions that we do don't necessarily have to be a lifetime, especially if we can get started on them early, a lot of the best medicine, truly and honestly, growth and time, and we have plenty of that.

And so if I can help support them with certain therapies that are fairly low risk to help them in this time of growth and maturation, then eventually they're not going to need me anymore. And I like to be needed obviously, but I would be much happier with a child that's out there running around playing and doing all the things that they want to do in the world without me breathing down their neck about having to take their medications. So, strive to get to that point, and ultimately we can with the shared decision-making between myself, the patient, and the parents.

Host: Well, I certainly have enjoyed getting to know you a bit better, Dr. Hogan. Thank you very much for your time.

Jared Hogan, MD, FAAP: Yes. Thank you so much, Evo. Happy to be on here and happy to look forward to seeing, many young patients in the future.

Host: And for more information on Dr. Hogan, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and the Le Bonheur Children's Outpatient Center in Jackson, please visit lebonheur.org. To see and hear more episodes of The Peds Pod from Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, please visit lebonheur.org/podcast. Thanks for watching.