In honor of Jan Halle, MD
Dr. Jan Halle, who treats lung and breast cancer patients, can’t remember a time when she wanted to be anything but a doctor. “I’ve always been fascinated by medicine,” she says. As a young girl, she liked to remove friends’ splinters and watch Ben Casey M.D. on TV with her dad. The summer after 9th grade she volunteered in an opthalmology lab at Johns Hopkins University. With encouragement from her family, none of whom are doctors, she entered medical school and later decided to focus on radiation oncology. It seemed to fit her personality.
“I like talking to people,” Dr. Halle says. “That’s always been part of what’s been most enjoyable.” She can also relate to patients in another way. “I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a first-year medical student,” she says. “I’ve been very lucky – it’s been a chronic disease. But I live with uncertainty about what could happen, just like most cancer patients do. I’ve managed to keep my sense of humor and that’s helped me help my patients cope with their own tough times."
In her work, she uses 3-D treatment planning techniques that Dr. Julian Rosenman pioneered at UNC. This allows Dr. Halle to pinpoint tumors and keep normal cells safe from radiation. “This is a different kind of specialty in that you see patients every day,” she says. “It’s a very intensive interaction, but it’s more like a family. And I really like that.”