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Houston Fertility Institute Welcomes Infertility Doctor Jason Yeh to the Family
Posted by Houston Fertility Institute on August 3rd, 2015
Houston Fertility Institute is pleased to announce a new addition to our family of fertility doctors. Join us in welcoming Dr. Jason Yeh, a Duke trained infertility doctor who was born and raised in Texas
Dr. Yeh decided at an early age to become a doctor after summer work in the Texas Medical Center. He went on to graduate from the Plan II Honors program at the University of Texas at Austin and was awarded a scholarship to the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He completed his residency and fellowship at Duke University Hospital and the Duke Fertility Center, where he was elected by peers to serve as the administrative chief resident for his department. At Duke, he won top prizes at research conferences for his work and has been invited to lecture both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Yeh brings to HFI his expertise and a passion for educating others about reproductive medicine, including how highly-effective fertility treatments can be used in treating patients beyond those who have infertility, but can also be used to treat families with cancer syndromes or hereditary diseases. He is excited about joining HFI in the fight to make reproductive options become more widely available, and looks forward to helping local couples achieve their dreams of parenthood. His passions, along with his expertise in fertility treatments, will be an invaluable addition.
To help you get to know Dr. Yeh, we briefly interviewed him and share his answers with you below:
HFI: What inspired you to become a physician?
Dr. Yeh: On the most basic level, I have always liked talking to people and helping others accomplish their goals. The experience that really propelled me towards medicine was when I was 18 years old and spent an entire summer working alongside a very busy heart surgeon in the Texas Medical Center. There were some long days in the operating room with some surgeries lasting over 14 hours, but I’ll never forget seeing the transformative power of medicine for the first time at such a young age. After seeing how a single physician could impact patients and their entire families, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor.
Once I was in medical school, I discovered the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It felt like a perfect fit for me since I’ve always enjoyed learning about both sciences and the humanities, and it’s such a unique discipline that combines the best of medicine, technology and the mystery of life all into one specialty.
HFI: Where have you worked in the past?
Dr. Yeh: After medical school, my wife and I moved to North Carolina so I could complete my residency and fellowship at Duke University Hospital and the Duke Fertility Center. There, I learned how to deliver the highest levels of clinical care every day on labor and delivery, fertility clinics and even gynecologic oncology clinics. I’m looking forward to bringing my expertise to the wealth of talent already at the Houston Fertility Institute.
HFI: What are you most passionate about professionally?
Dr. Yeh: I have too many! One of my professional joys is educating others about reproductive medicine. There can be a lot of misinformation from the media and it really takes a focused effort to show people that fertility treatments are safe, highly effective, and can be indicated for things that have nothing to do with infertility such as treating people for hereditary diseases or cancer syndromes. Along the same lines, I enjoy giving talks to young audiences (high school, college, and medical students) and educating them about the wonders of medical and reproductive technology. Finally, there is a lot of policy work to be done to help fight the financial and legislative barriers that limit one’s ability to build a family. There are a few national organizations that monitor local and national legislation to make sure that laws meant to make family building more difficult don’t pass; I’m excited that HFI is very active in this area and am looking forward to contributing my time and energy to these organizations to help make sure that reproductive options become more widely available to as many people as possible.
HFI: What are you passionate about outside of work?
Dr. Yeh: I enjoy so many things outside of work, but what really makes me happy is exploring the world through food and music with my family. It’s not unusual for me to end my evenings reading essays about international cuisine and thumbing through pages of the Modernist Cuisine.
As for music, I grew up playing all kinds of instruments and we have a whole bunch of musical instruments in the house as well as a constant medley of bluegrass playing in the background. When my daughter was 1, I used to hand her a mandolin just to see what she would do with it. I get so excited about the idea of her taking music lessons so we can hopefully perform together one day.
HFI: What most excites you about your work and the contribution you can make?
Dr. Yeh: I chose to practice in an area of medicine where everyone from the patients to the physicians and medical staff are all highly motivated towards a specific goal. Because this is such a goal-oriented specialty, the most exciting part of my job will always be the “graduation ultrasound visit” when everyone’s work has paid off and patients are so happy to have achieved exactly what they came to HFI for. It always makes me so happy to see the immediate and positive impact that I can bring to my patients and their families.
HFI: Have you been presented with any awards or recognition?
Dr. Yeh: I was awarded a tuition scholarship for medical school and went on to Duke University to train at one of the best programs in the country. As a senior resident, I was elected by my peers to serve the department as the administrative chief resident. Over the years, I’ve also had tremendous faculty mentors who have collaborated with me on a large range of research projects. For my work, I’ve won first place prizes at many research conferences and been invited to lecture around the country as well as in Europe and Asia on various topics.
HFI: If you could tell potential patients one thing about you, what would it be?
Dr. Yeh: The decision to come to a fertility clinic can be a deeply personal one, and I really consider it a privilege to be able to care for patients during this time in their lives. I want all my patients to know that my first responsibility to them is to listen to their story so we can figure out together what the next steps should be. I also want my current and future patients to know that I’m available anytime for questions or concerns during their treatment process. Fertility treatments can sometimes move pretty quickly depending on how the cycle is going, so I believe that clear lines of communication will not only help make clinic visits as smooth and stress-free as possible but will also maximize the likelihood of success!
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