A Legacy of Compassionate Care: JoEllen Hoth ’62’s Journey in Medicine

Looking back on a career spanning nearly 70 years, Dr. JoEllen Hoth ’62 still isn’t exactly sure what spurred her interest in medicine; no one else in her family was in the field. And yet she realized early on that she was drawn to the field’s ability to help people. In early high school, Hoth began shadowing a pathologist at a local hospital, there learning how to draw blood, use microscopes to count blood cells, and getting a feel for the hospital’s rhythm. After enrolling at Grinnell College, she committed to the “ChemZoo” major, a specialized major that was designed for students who wanted to transition into medical school. At the time, students like Hoth could enroll in medical school after taking required courses at Grinnell and passing the MCAT, without officially graduating from the college [see author’s note].

Hoth attended medical school at the University of Iowa the following year. This was an incredible learning experience, but at the same time, a challenging prospect for a young, female student in a male-dominated workplace and one of only 10 women in her graduating class. Hoth described how the education she received was the same as her male peers, but the respect for female medical students was still lacking. Despite the pressure placed on medical students, and women in particular, Hoth refused to shy away from these challenges and graduated with her medical degree and elite honors in 1965.

She excelled in the hospital environment but, in a sea of medical devices and technology, she felt most drawn to the patients. Ultimately, she found that her passion lay in family medicine, where she would get the chance to learn and grow alongside her patients. However, as family practice was not an official medical specialty, she was not able to do a residency in this field. Instead, she elected to intern with Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines. As an intern, she was no longer working directly under a doctor and doing rounds with patients under constant supervision, but was instead thrust into the face-paced hospital environment — delivering babies, running the emergency room, and maintaining the patient clinics alongside other interns. This newfound independence was daunting, but Hoth remembers it as ultimately being one of the most rewarding experiences.

Following her internship, Hoth married fellow Grinnell classmate, Steven Hoth, and his law career took them to Burlington, IA. In January 1969, at only 28 years old, Hoth opened her solo family practice, where she would go on to practice for over 50 years. Running a solo practice was no small feat; Hoth had to take on the responsibilities of medical care and the business of running her practice, but she gained the freedom that large practices, under contract to hospitals and insurance companies, lacked. Hoth balanced the practice with her own family, having sons Andrew, in 1974, and Peter, in 1977.

What inspired her to carry on, year after year? This is an easy question for Hoth. “We didn’t have ultrasounds or cat scans or MRIs… but we had the patients," says Hoth. For her, that was more than enough. Rather than priding herself on the number of procedures she could do, or the amount of equipment she had, Hoth took immense pride in her ability to connect with her patients. A major part of her medical education had been focused on learning to relate to the patient; focusing not just on their present condition, but their past experiences, their living situation, and, simply, who they are. It is an art that Hoth feels has been lost over time, saying, “I really appreciate that I went to school in a time when I learned to relate to the patient, professionally, socially, and personally."

While this concept of whole-patient care sounds simple, in practice, it was this aspect of Hoth’s practice that set her apart. Over the course of her career, she treated three generations worth of patients. She knew their families, their pets, and much more, finding over many years of practice that “along the way, some of the things you learn that you think you might never need are probably worth paying attention to.” She recalls once treating a patient who came in with a large ulcer on his hand and a swollen lymph node under his arm. After years of treating him, she knew he was a factory worker and a lover of rabbit hunting, so she could quickly narrow down the cause of the condition to tularemia, likely contracted while field dressing a contaminated rabbit. The small details she learned from connecting to her patients became the greatest source of joy in her career. She describes this connection as, “simply the pleasure that comes from helping people."

This passion for meaningful patient care transcended her clinical practice. Along the way she sought to integrate her love of patient care with the “politics” of medicine by serving a full term as Chief of Medical Staff and serving 20 years on Hospital Board of Directors. Dr. Hoth's dedication extended to her role as the director of Great River Hospice in Burlington in 2010 until her retirement in 2019. Now, she delights in spending time with her grandchildren, relishing the joy of cooking for her family, and sharing her wealth of life experiences and wisdom with Grinnell students.

Author’s note: Dr. Hoth did ultimately receive a Bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College. Sitting in Loose lounge, she penned a letter to the Dean of Faculty at the time petitioning for students who complete 3 years of schooling at Grinnell and transition to medical school to be granted a Grinnell College degree following their graduation from medical school. Her proposal was brought to the faculty, who ultimately voted in favor. In 1965, upon her graduation from medical school, she was finally granted a Grinnell College diploma.