The new executive dean for the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center got his start in health care while in high school, helping out at his uncle’s ambulance company in his hometown of Littleton, Colorado, near Denver.
“When I was still in high school, I got my EMT (emergency medical technician license), and then the more advanced EMTI (Emergency Medical Training Institute certification), and actually started working and helped fund my undergraduate and MD degrees,” says Michael Hocker, MD, MHS, who joins UT Health Science Center on June 23 to lead the College of Medicine.
“I didn’t come from a wealthy family,” he says. “I was a first-generation college student and had to put myself through undergraduate with both academic scholarships and wrestling.” He attended Fort Lewis College, a small liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado. On vacations, holidays, and during the summer, he would go back to the Denver area and work on the ambulances. “I loved the work, but it also helped me to cover the costs my tuition.”
He continued to work on the ambulances throughout medical school. “I think everybody thought I was going to be an emergency physician and be the medical director of that (ambulance) group,” he says. “I had different ideas early on, but that’s how I got my start in emergency medicine.”
That early experience in emergency medicine set the stage for his future as a physician and a leader.
“There’s actually a motto in emergency medicine that talks about any patient, anytime, anywhere,” Dr. Hocker says. “I’ve always been a person that just believes my purpose is taking care of patients in need, irrespective of their ability to pay or their status in life. I just like helping people, so it fit my personality.”
Dr. Hocker attended medical school at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. “Going through medical school, I loved every rotation,” he says. “For a long time, I could see myself doing a lot of different things. And I think in emergency medicine that’s really helpful, because you see everything from pediatrics to geriatrics and every disease and you get to work with every specialty, so in many ways it was a perfect fit for me. And I was never afraid of stressful situations or making quick decisions. And in some ways, I think it’s very helpful as dean of a college of medicine. You’re not afraid to tackle difficult things and make hard decisions.”
The cost of medical school set him on another path that further shaped his future.
“You know, the finances of medical school, I didn’t really want to take out a bunch of loans and I had a friend who was joining the military and had several family members who served. He said, ‘You should look at the military. They’ll pay a year for your school, if you give them a year back.’ And so, I joined, as part of the HPSP (Health Professions Scholarship Program) and then I started a combined residency program at Oakland Naval Hospital/UC Davis East Bay Surgical Program in California.”
“It was just at kind of the tail end of Desert Storm, and they were realigning bases and pulled everybody out of our residency back to the fleet,” Dr. Hocker says. “And they said, ‘Hey, you can choose to be on a ship, you can go to flight surgeon school, or you can go to undersea medicine.’ And I decided, ‘I like flying. Let’s try that.’ So, they sent me to Pensacola, and I learned all about aviation medicine and then went out in the fleet.”
That choice meant he traveled all over the world, including Hawaii, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Asia, and elsewhere, to take care of the pilots and their families. He also learned to fly fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
“I think it taught me a couple of things. First of all, in medicine it’s not the needs of you; it’s always the needs of your patient or who you’re working for,” he says. “And in the military, it’s always about the needs of the Navy and the soldiers and seamen. So, I really enjoyed my time there. I also learned a lot of good leadership lessons. I got to observe some great leaders, but I also got put into leadership positions at a very young age.”
When his time for military payback was done, he decided to go back and finish emergency medicine training at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Hocker later earned a Master of Health Science in Clinical Leadership from Duke University School of Medicine and a certification in conflict resolution. Eventually, he spent 14 years at Duke, helping to found and lead the emergency training program, which is now considered one of the best in the country.
Dr. Hocker joins UT Health Science Center after serving most recently as the dean and chief academic officer for the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Medicine, and as the senior vice president for the UT Health RGV clinical practice, where he has had a transformative impact.
Prior to that, Dr. Hocker served as the senior associate dean and designated institutional official for Graduate Medical Education at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, overseeing 51 residency programs. He was also the vice chair of Operations for Emergency Medicine and held the Harrison Distinguished Chair in Emergency Medicine.
“I have a couple of philosophies. I learned from the military but also on the ambulances and in emergency medicine, to adapt, improvise, and overcome,” he says. “I don’t get too excited about anything. I just try to stay level-headed. I also believe in truly leading from the back and when things are going well, staying behind the scenes and letting others get the accolades, and when things are not going well, I think leaders step up and put themselves out there and protect their people.”
Dr. Hocker and his wife, Melissa, a physician assistant who previously worked in a pediatric brain tumor center, are moving to Memphis from Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley region. Dr. Hocker has three adult children, Michael II, Zachary, and Kylie, and the couple has two younger children, Luke, 15, and Adeline, 7, who will be moving to Memphis with their parents.
The family hopes to settle in a home with some land in Memphis or the surrounding area. “We’re unique in that we love animals,” Dr. Hocker says. “We have dogs, cats, chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, a noisy parrot, and soon a horse and perhaps some other animals.
When he has time off, Dr. Hocker says he spends it with his family enjoying the outdoors, sports, and traveling.
Dr. Hocker also participates in triathlons. “I don’t do as long distances as I used to when I was younger, but I’ve probably competed in 50-plus triathlons,” he says. “And actually, I’ve won my age group and got to the World Championships a couple of times.”
As he joins the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine, Dr. Hocker says he wants to continue the outstanding history and legacy of the college. “When my son asked me, ‘How many people are going to be working for you?’ I said, ‘None, I’m working for them.’ That’s who I am. I’m there to continue with the legacy and tradition and continue to improve on it. And really, I think everything that we do as a medical school should be student- and patient-centered. We’re creating the next generation of physicians – not just physicians, but physician leaders and health care professionals. And the second, equally important priority is making sure that we take care of our patients and be the best part of our patients’ worst days. And if we do those two things, we ultimately succeed in having healthy Tennesseans.”