UP FRONT
Pulling Back the Curtain
Lukas Wartman, MD
In this edition, Lukas Wartman, MD, discusses his decision to go into medicine
and his life as a doctor and a patient. Dr. Wartman is assistant professor in the
Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology at Washington University
School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Wartman relaxing at home with his Shiba Inus, Kitsu (left) and Kazu (right).
What did you think you
would be when you grew
up?
Starting in middle school, I
helped my grandfather and
uncles as an electrician’s assistant
during breaks from school.
Electrical work was the family
business. I saw the potential
for living a pretty good life as
an electrician, but I didn’t end
up following in their footsteps,
and neither did my two younger
siblings. My sister is a teacher [as
was our mother] and my brother
started off as a teacher but now
works for a company that many
physicians hold in ill regard: the
electronic health record vendor
Epic.
ASHClinicalNews.org
When did you start thinking
about medicine as a career?
There weren’t any doctors in
my family, but we did have
connections to medicine: My dad
was a nursing home adminis-
trator and spent most of his
career working in small group
homes for the mentally disabled.
As a kid, I saw that he was doing
valuable work there.
Also, my grandfather was a
veterinarian. I looked up to him
and I loved animals, so going
into college, I thought about
becoming a biologist or veteri-
narian, or maybe even a doctor.
Over the course of my
undergraduate studies, however,
I realized that, while I loved
biology, I also loved working
with people. Becoming a phy-
sician seemed like a good fit
for my interests; I could satisfy
my scientific curiosities, learn
interesting things, and also make
a direct contribution to helping
people to improve their health.
I wanted teaching to be part
of my career, and I knew that it
would be part of my life as an
academic physician. I graduated
college one semester early and
taught seventh grade for a
teacher out on maternity leave
during a break before medical
school. I got to work in the same
school as my mom, which was an
amazing experience.
Why did you decide to
pursue hematology?
There’s a simple answer and
a complicated answer to that
question.
The simple reason is that,
from an intellectual standpoint,
I was attracted to the idea
of precision medicine and
targeted therapies. I liked
learning about the connection
between underlying molecular
abnormalities and how these
abnormalities were driving
cancer, especially leukemias.
In my second year of medical
school, I took a hematology
course that I loved. I liked
looking at peripheral blood
smears and bone marrow
ASH Clinical News
11