Profile: George Hoke, MD

Division of General, Geriatric, Palliative & Hospital Medicine
FACULTY PROFILE: George Hoke, MD

I was born in Orange, California, to parents from Pittsburgh who were chased back east by the constant trembling of the earth in the 1960s. Despite moving to Baltimore at the age of 6, I was raised, along with my three siblings, to be an ardent Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Many of my fondest childhood memories involve 20 family members crammed into a room meant for five at my grandparents’ house, watching football, screaming, and eating pierogi.

Along with sports and food, I also love science. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a major in microbiology, I worked in a D.C.-area research lab studying the life cycle of HIV, and began working on a PhD. After four years, though, I realized that I needed a more direct connection to patients than my windowless lab afforded; so I moved back to Baltimore for medical school at the University of Maryland. Along the way, I became a passionate Orioles fan; I started medical training in a loft apartment with a rooftop view of Camden Yards’ left field. Better than baseball was meeting and marrying Mrs. Dr. Hoke (Tracey, a pediatrician and Chief Quality Officer at UVA Hospital).

After working in the newly minted specialty of hospital medicine for eight years, I was fortunate to be offered a position by Peggy Plews-Ogan leading the newly created Hospitalist group at UVA. We started the program in 2006 with four new residency graduates (including Kyle Enfield and Brian Uthlaut); we now have more than 20 hospitalists on staff. 

Why medicine?

I know it sounds cheesy but I really like helping people through tough times.

Why hospital medicine?

People are vulnerable and scared in the hospital. So are their families. I get tremendous satisfaction out of helping to ease their anxiety and quickly bonding with them. Sometimes I get to help them recover from serious illness, sometimes I get to help them figure out how to deal with the last stages of life. Either way, it is a great honor to be invited into the lives of strangers and the most fulfilling job I can imagine.

What brought you to UVA?

It was 1995 and residency interview season was almost over as I drove down 29 South. Tracey and I had already created a couples match list. With the Blue Ridge Mountains to my right and pastoral farmland all around, somehow I felt at home even before I got to Charlottesville. The friendliness and comradery amongst the residents I met that day was unmatched on the interview trail. UVA went to the top of my list. After residency, Tracey and I moved back to Baltimore for her fellowship at Johns Hopkins, but as soon as the chance to return to UVA came along, we took our girls and hit 29 South for what is now and forever my home.

Proudest achievement outside the professional realm?

Alongside Tracey, raising two thoughtful, creative, and inspiring daughters: Camille, age 14 and Sophia, age 10.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

Play blues guitar like John Lee Hooker or Stevie Ray Vaughn.

What inspires you?

The breathtaking beauty and majesty of natural places around the world. The most memorable for me include the Grand Canyon, Lake Brienz in Switzerland, the Tetons in Wyoming, the travertines of Pamukkale, Turkey, Canon Beach in Oregon, and the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland.

What’s one thing you always have in your fridge?

Good cheese. Right now I am partial to Harbison from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont.

Where did you go on your last vacation?

The New River Valley in West Virginia. We needed a last-minute plan, a driveable distance from Charlottesville, and we hit the jackpot at Adventures on the Gorge. White-water rafting with top-notch guides, horseback riding through the forest, zip-lining in the tree canopy, and hiking along the New River.

Words to live by?

Love is the only way in! (Listen to the song by Robert Randolph and the Family Band.)