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Dejah Judelson, MD

Everyone, Everyday. Relentlessly: Meet Dejah Judelson, MD

As we update our brand name to UMass Memorial Health and launch a new brand campaign, it’s time to tell the world who we are, what we do and what we stand for as a health care system. Our relentless caregivers are the inspiration for the update of our new brand name and campaign. Find out more about these caregivers and why how it takes everyone, every day working together relentlessly to care for our patients and each other. This week, we interviewed Dejah Judelson, MD, who shared her thoughts with us on everything from the pandemic to her work philosophy.

Looking back on this past year, Dejah Judelson, MD, is amazed at the outpouring of support UMass Memorial Health received from organizations and individuals in the community. Everyone rose to the occasion and did what they could to embrace a common goal of caring for one another. 

“I remember having patients reach out with masks from home that they wanted to donate to the hospital because they knew we needed it,” says Dr. Judelson. “When COVID started no one knew what to expect and I’ve just been tremendously proud to be part of an organization that’s stepped up and continued to fight hard to take care of our patients.”

In addition to a surge of community support, our strong leadership and collaborative approach to success were central to navigating COVID-19 and coming out stronger than ever. Dr. Judelson noted, “Everyone in the Division of Vascular Surgery really has been relentless in our pursuit of providing not only excellent patient care, but humanistic care to our patients by doing everything we can to take care of not only their vascular surgical needs, but also their medical and emotional needs through these trying times.” 

Colleague Lisa Arello, MS, ANP-BC, noted, “Dr. Judelson is an amazing surgeon and director of our Vein Center. Her endless pursuit to provide the highest quality care and dedication to her patients is an inspiration to all of us who work with her.” This passion for quality care demonstrates our relentless pursuit of healing and defines us all as caregivers here at UMass Memorial Health.

Dr. Judelson’s mother, Debra Judelson, MD, now a retired cardiologist and a visionary in her field, first inspired Dejah to pursue a career in medicine. To this day, it is still her family and their love and support that keeps her going. “It’s great that I can stay at work as late as I need to help my patients and I come home to a smiling family. Sometimes dinner is ready for me, sometimes I like to cook,” Dr. Judelson says. 

Besides her parents, a bouncing 19-month-old baby boy and her husband, Mason Ashcraft, who is a lead technician in our vascular lab, Dr. Judelson’s world revolves around her patients. For these patients Dr. Judelson is both a thoughtful friend and a pragmatic physician. Sometimes this means having harder conversations with individuals to help them realize they need to quit smoking or take better care of themselves before having a meaningful surgical interaction. She recalls, “Yesterday I did two carotid endarterectomies to prevent patients from having strokes and watching them wake up and smile and do great is completely satisfying.”