Profile: Gus Mealor, MD

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
FELLOW PROFILE: Augustus (“Gus”) Mealor, MD

Gus with his wife, Kim.

I am from Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a geography professor and the remarkable woman who endured much grief to raise me and my two brothers. I spent my junior year of college at the University of Durham, England, studying theology, philosophy and classics. When I returned to Trinity my senior year, I enrolled in several independent studies reading New Testament and classical philosophy in Greek. This allowed me to graduate with a triple major in religion, philosophy and classical Greek.

I considered careers in academics and in ministry but felt neither was a good fit. Medicine appealed to me as a way to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives with the benefit of scientific evidence. Because I had little exposure to the sciences as an undergraduate, I earned an M.S. in microbiology and molecular cell science at the University of Memphis, where I wrote my thesis on cyanobacterial motility and spent many hours in a dark room staring into the green glow of a transmission electron microscope. I stayed in Memphis for medical school at the University of Tennessee, where I found that UT’s understaffed and poorly funded medical system requires medical students to shoulder a great deal of responsibility — which makes for a great clinical education.

Why cardiology?

I’ve enjoyed reading ECGs since early in medical school, and I like the thought process of hemodynamic problems. Cardiology has a large scope of acuity from ST-elevation myocardial infarction to chronic heart failure. Within cardiology, one can perform invasive procedures, read imaging studies, see patients in ambulatory clinic, or consult in the hospital.

What do you like about the Charlottesville?

I can run from my home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Monticello in about 30 minutes. More than that, I have great friends here.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I play guitar, pick the mandolin, and I’m learning claw hammer banjo. I also enjoy woodblock cutting and drawing — and I just got a watercolor set. I’ve even done a little blacksmithing. When the weather is nice, I might be out on my bicycle or running the trails around Charlottesville.

Best advice anyone ever gave you?

“My boys, sometimes you have to laugh,” from Dr. Douglas Davies, President of The College of St. Hilde and St. Bede, Durham University, and an academic authority on the sociology of death and cremation.

What about you would surprise us?

People are often surprised to learn that I am as old as I am. Kim and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this month.