A pilot. A dog dad. A cook who never makes the same meal twice.

These are things you might not know about Drs. Hayden Boyce, Christopher Jaeger and Suresh Potluri. They are all amazing doctors, but behind their credentials, they're loving family members, community members and more.

This year leading up to Doctors' Day on March 30, we're focusing on “Celebrating our shared humanity.” We're learning and sharing more about our doctors outside of work — what they're passionate about, their hobbies and the things that join us together. Learn more about three of our doctors below and join us in thanking them, and all our doctors, for the passion and dedication they pour into their profession.

Read more doctors' stories on our Doctors' Day Well page.

Meet pilot Dr. Hayden Boyce, aka ‘Dr. Big Heart’

Hayden Boyce, M.D., didn’t realize he’d done something special until his nursing team brought it up later.

His patient had pseudotumor cerebri, which caused her to go blind. He had taken her hand in his and drawn out on her palm how they were going to treat her. She couldn’t see, so he painted a picture for her, and she understood what was happening.

When working with neurosurgery patients who have pseudotumor cerebri, Parkinson's disease or dystonia, acts of understanding like these make a big difference.

Serving in Corewell Health West’s Grand Rapids neuroscience department for more than a decade, Dr. Boyce has made it his mission to make patients and team members alike feel comfortable.

He uses visuals to educate patients, and sometimes that means a PowerPoint presentation. He’s sure to tell the patient that if they’re nice to him, they won’t get quizzed on it.

“That sort of breaks the ice,” he said. “Most patients are nervous seeing a surgeon, and then they hear about the quiz, very rarely will the patient and family not chuckle after.”

He appreciates the tremendous effect neurosurgery can have on someone’s life. Removing a brain tumor, controlling tremor and dystonia, alleviating pain. And patients are often appreciative of the profound changes.

Dr. Boyce also shows appreciation for fellow team members, whether he’s bringing in doughnuts, arranging lunch from Detroit Wing Company, or ordering a special cake.

And fellow team members appreciate him, too. Amy Nilaj, PA, neurosurgery, has referred to him as “Dr. Big Heart.”

“Dr. Boyce is one of the kindest physicians that I have worked with,” she said. “He is always thankful to his PAs/NPs. He is jovial and displays a positive attitude all the time. He cares deeply for his patients and his colleagues, and it shows.”

When Dr. Boyce isn’t working, he can be found chaperoning his son’s school band trips, exercising or even up in the clouds: Dr. Boyce has his private pilot license and is working on getting his commercial and instructor license.

He’s learned the importance of striving to find a work/life balance and pursuing health and hobbies outside the operating room.

“We have to understand that even though we are providing excellent care to our patients, we also have to take care of ourselves,” he said.

Medical education is at the forefront for Corewell Health East urologist Dr. Christopher Jaeger

Christopher Jaeger, M.D., a Corewell Health East urologist, has been an integral part of several milestones within the system, and his career is only just beginning.

Dr. Jaeger was a member of the charter class of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in 2015. Following his training, he became the first true academic hire within Corewell Health — he’s the first employed urologist with an academic appointment, funded in part by the medical school. And recently, he performed an operation on a 4-month baby girl, who was one of the youngest patients ever operated on with the aid of the da Vinci robotic platform in Corewell Health history.

Originally studying biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, Dr. Jaeger met regularly with family friend and mentor Kenneth Peters, M.D., urology chair for Corewell Health East, and eventually shadowed him in the operating room. 

“I was passionate about designing and building devices that could help patients, but (as a urologist), you can actually see the rewards of putting this device in someone’s body and watching their quality of life change dramatically,” Dr. Jaeger said, who was inspired to go into medicine and eventually the specialty of urology because of his interactions with Dr. Peters.

After graduating medical school, Dr. Jaeger did his internship and residency at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center before accepting a pediatric urology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. And during that last stint, he just so happened to earn a master’s degree in medical education from Harvard Medical School.

“My overarching mission is to make an impact on the future of medical education,” Dr. Jaeger said, which is evident in the trajectory of his career path.

In addition to his time spent as a physician seeing patients, Dr. Jaeger works daily with the urology residents and medical students. He is in the process of implementing novel assessment tools and other programs to aid in the development of skill competencies for urology residents. He also serves on several committees at the medical school as he was hired on to help out across the entire enterprise in medical education.

“There were 50 of us in that graduating class,” he said of the early milestone. “The medical school wanted us to be involved in shaping the curriculum and the culture of the school. A lot of us got the bug for medical education after we were done with training and sought additional training in education.  Many of us are now heavily involved in medical education at various universities across the country and aspire for leadership roles.”

His mentor couldn’t be more impressed with the path Dr. Jaeger has taken, and even lobbied for him to join Corewell Health.

“He thrived in his residency at OSU,” Dr. Peters said. “To then go on to Boston Children’s, one of the best programs in the country, and while there, gets a master’s degree in medical education at Harvard, it’s remarkable. We stayed in touch, I asked him, ‘what are you going to do after this?’ — because he could go anywhere, (the) urology program was trying to recruit him. I am thrilled he joined the faculty at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital. What an incredible circle to complete. The first graduating class, the first in urology, an amazing training experience, and then to come back here. I couldn’t be more proud of how that circle completed. He’s going to be a national leader in medicine beyond being an outstanding surgeon and a great person.”

Dr. Jaeger is married to Kathryn Krupsky, Ph.D., an epidemiologist, and the couple lives in Royal Oak with their Miniature Schnauzer Wilson.

In cooking and medicine, Dr. Suresh Potluri prefers variety

It didn’t sink in until he was a teenager.

Every year, his family would go to a neonatal reunion where they would see kids the same age as him. What he came to realize was these kids had been saved by his father, a neonatologist.

They had his father to thank for their lives.

“I think that inspired me to go into medicine,” said Suresh Potluri, M.D. “You could really see what change you could bring as a physician.”

Dr. Potluri was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. He earned his medical degree from RUSH Medical College in Chicago and completed residencies in urology and general surgery through SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.

He prides himself on taking a “patient-first approach” and balancing patients’ needs with evidence-based care. He said he enjoys urology because it lets him do a little bit of everything and every day is different.

He may perform a minor surgery one day and a drastic, life-saving surgery the next. He helps patients with conditions ranging from kidney stones to cancer and more.

“It's such a variety that every day is exciting because you don't know what it brings,” he said.

Outside of work, Dr. Potluri loves to cook and jokes if he weren’t a doctor, he’d be working in a kitchen somewhere.

He enjoys variety in cooking as well as medicine and prides himself on never making the same dish twice — sometimes to his family’s dissatisfaction when he makes something very good he won’t repeat.

He also jokes he’s a “taxi” for his children, taking his son to soccer practices and driving his daughter to and from college in upstate New York.

Although he’s been living and practicing medicine in Southwest Michigan for more than a decade, Dr. Potluri joined Corewell Health in late 2022 and immediately could tell that Corewell Health was different from previous employers. He felt like leadership understood his needs and actively responded to his concerns.