W. John Yost, MD, FACP
2008 Iowa Chapter Laureate Awardee
Dr. Yost was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the eldest of five children and spent his early childhood in S. Dakota. After returning to Iowa and attending a small rural school in Dallas County, he spent high school years at Hoover High School in Des Moines. He was active in athletics—football and wrestling—and was an avid fisherman and hunter.
Dr. Yost attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa receiving a Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction in three and a half years. He was named to Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Beta Kappa. An interest in veterinary medicine led to studies at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University where he was elected to Phi Zeta, a national veterinary honor society. However, he rediscovered a passion for learning how to provide medical care for his fellow human beings.
With the support of his understanding wife, Rose, he started studies at the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 1984. Rose taught in the Iowa City school district until their sons, John and Charlie, were born. He was named to Alpha Omega Alpha as a junior. On graduation, he received the William R. Wilson Award for Exceptional Accomplishment in Internal Medicine.
In 1988, his medical school military scholarship brought a commission of Captain in the United States Army Reserve. The family moved to Washington, D.C. where he began residency training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A daughter, Catherine, was born at Walter Reed. He was selected to serve as Chief Medical Resident at Walter Reed from 1991-1992 and appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Upon completion of his Chief Residency, he was assigned to be a general internist at Martin Army Community Hospital at Ft Benning, Georgia, a 250 bed hospital in the middle of the Georgia pine forests. During that time, he was assigned as a battalion surgeon to a forward support battalion with a mechanized infantry division. The term "battalion surgeon" he says, is used by the Army in a rather loose sense. He was promoted to Major. His decorations include two Army Achievement Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, and a Meritorious Service Medal. He was named a Fellow in the American College of Physicians, and in 1994 received the Robert Moser Award in Washington, DC, awarded to an outstanding general internist who holds the rank of Captain or Major in the United States Army.
In 1995, he resigned his commission, returned to Des Moines to enter general internal medicine practice, and take a position with the Internal Medicine Residency Program in Des Moines, a University of Iowa affiliate. He joined Iowa Health Physicians, where he practiced general internal medicine for the next eleven years. He received an adjunct clinical faculty appointment at the University of Iowa and has worked closely with medical students and residents. He initially directed the Ambulatory Medicine rotation for the residency program, and has regularly attended on the inpatient service. He is currently an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. In 2000, he became Associate Program Director in the University of Iowa (Des Moines) program, and in February 2006 he became the Program Director. He holds active appointments at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, the Des Moines VA Medical Center, and Broadlawns Medical Center. He was elected Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Iowa Methodist Medical Center two years ago, and was recently elected Chief of Staff at Iowa Methodist. He remains active in the American College of Physicians, and has served on the Iowa Chapter Council for several years. He has regularly attended regional and national ACP meetings and presented at regional meetings. He is also a member of the Polk County Medical Society, the Iowa Medical Society, and the Society of General Internal Medicine. He serves on the Accreditation Committee for Continuing Medical Education for the Iowa Medical Society, as well as the Sports Medicine Committee.
His passion remains both clinical medicine and medical education. He received the Teacher of the Year from the residents in the University of Iowa (Des Moines) program, and the Outstanding Teaching Award three times from the Pharmacy Students of Drake University. Carver College of Medicine third-year students have twice nominated him finalist for Teacher of the Year. He was awarded the Alpha Omega Alpha Volunteer Clinical Faculty Teaching Award by the students of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. His greatest professional satisfaction lies in teaching and working with residents and medical students—seeing residents progress from newly graduated medical students to skilled internists, and medical students discover the elegance and excitement of internal medicine.
He and his wife Rose have two sons, John and Charlie, at Iowa State University, and a daughter, Catherine, at Dowling Catholic High School. Dr. Yost still enjoys fishing — particularly fly-fishing for trout and panfish — and hunting, particularly duck, pheasant, and bow hunting for deer. He and his sons enjoy canoeing the Boundary Waters, and he remains an avid reader of history.
Page updated: 03-24-08
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Richard F. LeBlond, MD, MACP,
Governor, Iowa Chapter
Fran Blanc
Ph: 319-467-5595
Fax: 319-384-8214
E-mail: francoise-
blanc@uiowa.edu