May 12, 2003

Medical School Graduate Hopes
To Treat Young And Old
By Jane Shaskan

When Harry Hoar's father suggested to his son that he might consider becoming a doctor, the younger Hoar said, "No way." He was interested in biological research.

But to his surprise, he discovered lab work lacked a crucial ingredient that he was looking for in his career: "I missed being involved with people," he says. So Hoar decided to pursue the idea of a career in medicine after all.

Harry Hoar Photo by Peter Morenus

A lunch was arranged with his pediatrician, and Hoar liked what he heard. "He told me he worked 80 hours a week; made less money than he did five years ago, started work at 5 a.m. at the hospital, then went to his practice, took 20 minutes for lunch, left at 5 to go back to the hospital and got home around 7 or 8 in the evening. "It sounded good to me," Hoar said.

Involvement with Hartford's Big Brother program also influenced his decision. He's been a Big Brother, or mentor, with the program for three years and is very involved with his "brother" and, of late, his "brother's" brother, who often joins the two on outings. Hoar also volunteers at the South Marshall House Pediatrics Clinic, the Migrant Farm Workers Health Center, and the South Park Inn Homeless Shelter Clinic, where he is also the manager.

A Connecticut native, Hoar grew up in Bolton, where his family has lived for three generations. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology with high honors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., where he also conducted research in physics.

He has chosen internal medicine/pediatrics - a combined residency program that takes four years instead of three - as his specialty. After completing the residency, he will be able to sit for the board in both internal medicine and pediatrics and so be able to treat people of all ages.

"I want to be able to provide care from birth to death," Hoar says.

He also thinks a balance can be reached by treating both the young and the old. "I'm interested in making the end of life a better experience for the elderly," he says, "and also in being uplifted by a two-year-old child coming in for a checkup."

Hoar was chosen by vote of his fellow medical school graduates to represent the class. He will give a speech during the Health Center's Commencement exercises May 19.