Service is at the heart of everything Dr. Gene Hu does. Known for his service to peers, community, and patients, he is a recipient of the Dr. Richard Mays Smith Award.

Dr. Gene Hu

What this award means: This award is meaningful to me because it represents part of an effort to decrease the financial burden placed on medical students and allow those such as myself with interests in academic medicine to better pursue our passions.

Mentor comment: Professional, compassionate, measured, and bright, Gene embraces the leadership role as he is always observing his environment for opportunities to exercise his gifts and talents in service to others. His remarkable insight, desire to continually challenge himself, and ability to grow are invaluable assets to our profession. His capabilities as a physician and a leader are limitless. – Dr. Reeni Abraham, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Co-Director of the Internal Medicine Clerkship

Background and family: I was born and raised in Houston. My parents were both first-generation Americans from Taiwan and worked hard to put themselves through school. Each graduated with an undergraduate engineering degree.

What led to your career path: My love for medicine has always stemmed from the beautiful marriage of the objective with the subjective – how we as physicians must puzzle through laboratory values, the ‘evidence,’ and the heuristics of illness scripts while also developing a rich relationship with the patient, understanding their social determinants of health, and seeing how all of their unique parts help us in the endeavor of making them whole.

College: “I graduated with a B.A. in biology, chemistry, and psychology from Cornell University, with research culminating in an honors thesis. During college, I completed 600 volunteer service hours through Alternative Breaks and also participated in Asian American InterVarsity.”

UTSW activities: I served as a student member of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and the Curriculum Committee, member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and officer of DFW HepB Free. Additionally, I was involved in research (six publications) and quality improvement (QI) projects with the Cardiology Division.

Surprising fact: I danced Bhangra (an Indian folk dance) in undergrad. That is how I met my fiancée. I also play five musical instruments: violin, guitar, djembe, cajón, and keyboard.

Future plans: I hope to go into internal medicine and spend most of my time as a practicing clinician. I also hope to follow in the footsteps of so many of my amazing mentors and go into academic medicine to be able to give back to the body of knowledge through research, help improve health systems through QI, and – most importantly – have a helping hand in teaching and raising up each new generation of physicians. I am excited to begin my training at the University of California San Francisco’s prestigious program.

About the award: The award is given annually to one or more graduating medical students who excel academically during clinical rotations and who exhibit an interest in and compassion for patients.