Dr. Jost was one of five residents selected to receive the 2021 Cefalo House Officer Awards
The Robert C. Cefalo, MD, House Officer Award recognizes members of the Hospitals’ House staff for exemplary service to patients and families, professional performance, and compassionate patient care. This award is intended to honor Robert C. Cefalo, MD, PhD, professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant dean, head of the Office of Graduate Medical Education, Emeritus, UNC School of Medicine. Dr. Robert C. Cefalo served with distinction for 25 years as director of the residency and fellowship programs at UNC Hospitals. Dr. Cefalo passed away in 2008 after a battle with cancer, and this award was renamed the Robert C. Cefalo House Officer Award in 2008 as a permanent memorial to the legacy he left behind. A selection committee of physicians, nurses, and other clinical and administrative staff selected this year’s five honorees, who will each receive a monetary award of $1,000 to cover expenses associated with professional development.
Diya Jost, MD, Medicine-Pediatrics
Dr. Jost was praised for her commitment to her work, compassion for her colleagues and patients, and her advocacy for the highest standards of clinical care and professional practice.
Here’s what her nominators had to say: “Dr. Jost is the only resident who serves as a lead consultant on the Clinical Ethics Service (CES) for UNC Hospitals. Dr. Jost displays both her humility and excellent communication skills in her work as a consultant; she is adept at discussing difficult topics in a constructive manner. She also highlights the voices of patients who are particularly vulnerable or marginalized, perhaps by disability, poverty, literacy, minority status, or other concerns.”
“There is no doubt, Dr. Jost is seen as a leader at UNC. We all want her to be a part of our team. Her natural empathy compared with her ability to just listen to our patients provided a level of trust and confidence in the patient-physician relationship that many physicians take years to build, let alone sustain, and she accomplished this as a medical student. She was able to provide compassionate and evidence-based care to the most vulnerable patients in our hospital and did so with grace and humility.”