Jayne Viets-Upchurch, MD
Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine
About Dr. Jayne Viets-Upchurch
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 1994 | The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas, US, MD |
| 1984 | University of Texas, Austin, Texas, US, Accounting, Masters in Public Accounting |
| 1982 | Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas, US, Business Administration, BBA |
Postgraduate Training
| 2016-2016 | Palliative and End of Life Care, Northwestern.edu, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1994-1998 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, The University of Texas Medical Foundation, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 1999 | American Board of Internal Medicine |
| 1996 | State Medical License |
| null | PALS |
| null | BLS |
| null | ACLS |
| null | DEA |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2021
Other Professional Positions
Invited to contribute to the Emergency Department ED and Urgent Care HCP Co-Creation on September 15, 2017, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Philadelphia, PA, 2017
Contract Physician, Schumacher Group, Lafayette, LA, 2010 - 2012
Physician, Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital, Jasper, TX, 2010 - 2012
Physician, Memorial Hermann - The Woodlands, The Woodlands, TX, 2009 - 2010
Contract Physician, Teamhealth, Knoxville, TN, 2009 - 2010
Contract Physician, Coastal Bend Emergency Services, Corpus Christi, TX, 2008 - 2009
Physician, Driscoll Children's Hospital, Corpus Christi, TX, 2008 - 2009
Contract Physician, Brazos Bend Emergency Physicians, Houston, TX, 2008 - 2009
Clinical Specialist, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2008 - 2012
Contract Physician, Excel Immediate Care, Cypress, TX, 2007 - 2008
Locum Tenens Physician, Primestaff, Houston, TX, 2006 - 2009
Locum Tenens Physician, Credentia, Houston, TX, 2006 - 2007
Locum Tenens Physician, Comphealth, Dallas, TX, 2006 - 2006
Physician, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Houston, TX, 2006 - 2008
Locum Tenens Physician, Physician Resources Inc (PRI), Houston, TX, 2005 - 2008
Medical Director, Dermacare Laser and Skin Care Clinic, Houston, TX, 2005 - 2006
Medical Director, Houston Community Health Centers Inc, Houston, TX, 2001 - 2004
Private Practice, Jayne Viets, MD, PA, Houston, TX, 2001 - 2005
Physician, St. John's Family Medicine - Branson West, Branson West, MO, 1998 - 2001
Physician, McGregor Medical Associates, Houston, TX, 1997 - 1998
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Representative, Faculty Senate, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - 2022
Member, CARTOX Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2016 - Present
Planning Committee member, Oncologic Emergency Medicine Conference Scientific Planning Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2016 - 2017
Member, DEM Quality Improvement Initiative: Palliative Care Initiatives in the Emergency Center- Enhancing Value of Care at the End of Life, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2014 - Present
Member, Faculty Academic Review Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2014 - Present
Member, Order Set Task Force, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2014 - Present
Member, Clinical Content Management Team, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2013 - Present
Member, Spinal Cord Algorithm Workgroup, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2013 - Present
Member, Clinical Effectiveness Subcommittee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2012 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2025 - Present | Sister Alice Potts "Angel Award", Spiritual Care & Education at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2024 | Clinical Ethics Certificate Program Center for Clinical Ethics in Cancer Care, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 - 2018 | Divisional of Internal Medicine Quality Improvement Distinguished Paper Award, Division of Internal Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2026. Emergency Care for Older Adults with Cancer: Temporal Trends in Oncology Emergency Department Utilization, Acuity, and Outcomes for Geriatric Cancer Patients. Invited. Division Of Internal Medicine Research Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2025. Emergency Medicine Education Series: Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH). Invited. Didactics: Emergency Medicine Education Series. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. DEM Goals of Care: Honoring the Wishes of ACCC Patients Electing to Forego Advanced Resuscitative Efforts. Invited. Division of Internal Medicine - Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Spirituality in the Workplace Faculty Fireside Chat. Invited. "Fireside Chat: Where Spirituality and the Workplace Collide.". Houston, Texas, US.
- 2021. Wellness and Burnout. Conference. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2020. Legal Aspects of DNR. Conference. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Neurological Emergencies. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2016. Cool Topics in Emergency Medicine and Trauma Care. Conference. Emergency Nurses Association, Houston Chapter. Houston, TX, US.
- 2014. Care at the End of Life at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. Spinal Cord Compression Intervention Protocol. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. Improving Spinal Cord Compression Management. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. 60 yo male with a history of esophageal cancer presenting as esophageal rupture. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. Interesting ER Cases: 60 yo male with a history of esophageal cancer presenting as esophageal rupture. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2012. Hypercalcemia of malignancy. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2012. A New Improved Accelerated Diagnostic Protocol Safely Identifies Low-risk Patients With Chest Pain in the Emergency Department. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2016. Case Presentation: Mama Knows Best?. Conference. UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, US.
National Presentations
- 2023. Spiritual Care Abstract Poster. Poster. (ASCO) American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium. Boston, Massachusetts, US.
- 2023. Code Discussion: How to Have Code Discussion and Convert Someone to DNR in Less than 10 Minutes. Invited. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2020. Managing Immune-Related Adverse Events in the ED With the Advent of Combination Therapies. Invited. Paradigm Medical. Dallas, TX, US.
International Presentations
- 2025. Volume and acuity trends in geriatric patients with cancer: Insights from a comprehensive cancer center. Poster. Meeting Abstract: 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. Budapest, HU.
- 2024. Supportive Care in Cancer. Poster. (MASCC) Multinational Association Of Supportive Care in Cancer. Lille, FR.
- 2023. Spiritual care support of goal concordant care in the oncologic emergency setting. Invited. ASCO. Boston, US.
- 2017. Emergency Department Intervention Program for Enhancing Choice at the End of Life. Conference. MEMC-GREAT 2017. Lisbon, PT.
- 2014. Improving the Management of Malignant Spinal Cord Compression in the Emergency Department of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Invited. IFQSH. Paris, FR.
Formal Peers
- 2024. Improving ACP Documentation on Admission patients with Previous DNR. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Odds and Ends- Improving ACP Documentation on Admission of Patients with Previous DNR. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Goals of Care. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2023. Spiritual Care Support of Goal Concordant Care in the ACCC* Providing the right care from the start. HOUSTON, TX, US.
- 2022. ACP Gaps Legal and EPIC Panel Discussion. HOUSTON, TEXAS, US.
- 2020. Advanced Care Planning: Working you way through the chart. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. CREWS Council MD Anderson Wellness. HOUSTON, TEXAS, US.
- 2019. Neurologic Emergencies. Houston, Texas, US.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Patricia A. Brock, Denise Manon Langabeer, Valda D Page, Sarah Dendy, Jayne M Viets, Ziyi Li, Aiham Qdaisat. Volume and Acuity Trends in Geriatric Patients with Cancer: Insights from a Comprehensive Cancer Center 43, 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Qdaisat, AZ, Stroh, E, Reyes-Gibby, CC, Wattana, M, Viets-Upchurch, J, Li, Z, Page, VD, Fatima, H, Chaftari, P, Elsayem, A. Severity of Symptoms as an Independent Predictor of Poor Outcomes in Patients with Advanced Cancer Presenting to the Emergency Department. Cancers 16(23), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39682175.
- Elsayem AF, Warneke CL, Reyes-Gibby CC, Buffardi LJ, Sadaf H, Chaftari PS, Brock PA, Page VD, Viets-Upchurch J, Lipe D, Alagappan K. "Triple Threat" Conditions Predict Mortality Among Patients With Advanced Cancer Who Present to the Emergency Department. J Emerg Med 63(3):355-362, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36220672.
- Lipe DN, Viets-Upchurch J, Hanna EY, Reyes-Gibby C, Chen SR, Elsayem A, Long B. Carotid Blowout Syndrome in the Emergency Department: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. J Emerg Med 62(3):e29-e34, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35065858.
- Lipe DN, Rajha E, Wechsler AH, Gaeta S, Palaskas NL, Alhajji Z, Viets-Upchurch J, Chaftari P. Cardiotoxicity associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T-cell therapy. Am J Emerg Med 50:51-58, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34274878.
- Yeung S, Qdaisat A, Chaftari P, Lipe D, Merlin J, Rajha E, Wechsler A, Sandoval M, Viets-Upchurch J, Al-Breiki A, Shah M, Pandey R, Kamal M, Khattab O, Toale K, Wattana M, Elsayem A, Gaeta S, Brock P, Reyes-Gibby C, Alagappan K. Diagnosis and Management of Immune-Related Adverse Effects of Immune Checkpoint Therapy in the Emergency Department. The Practice of Emergency Medicine:1-23, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Qdaisat A, Wu W, Lin JZ, Al Soud R, Yang Z, Hu Z, Gao S, Wu CC, Liu X, Silvestre J, Hita AG, Viets-Upchurch J, Al Adwan S, Al Haj Qasem N, Cruz Carreras MT, Jacobson KL, Chaftari PS, Abdel-Razeq H, Reyes-Gibby CC, Jim Yeung SC. Clinical and Cancer-Related Predictors For Venous Thromboembolism In Cancer Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department. J Emerg Med 58(6):932-941, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32376060.
- Qdaisat A, Yeung SJ, Variyam DE, Badugu P, Ghaly F, Rice TW, Halm JK, Carter BW, Sun J, Gonzalez CE, Viets-Upchurch J, Steele JR, Wu CC. Evaluation of Cancer Patients With Suspected Pulmonary Embolism: Performance of the American College of Physicians Guideline. J Am Coll Radiol 17(1 Pt A):22-30, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31376398.
- Cruz-Carreras MT, Chaftari P, Viets-Upchurch J. Advance Care Planning: Challenges at the emergency department of a cancer care center. Support Care Cancer 26(2):585-588, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 28918550.
- Cruz Carreras MT, Chaftari PS, Gonzalez CE, Enojo R, Viets-Upchurch J. Emergency Department intervention program for enhancing choice at the end of life: a quality improvement project at a comprehensive cancer center. J Palliat Care Med 7(2):1-5, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Wu W, Liu X, Chaftari P, Cruz Carreras MT, Gonzalez C, Viets-Upchurch J, Merriman K, Tu SM, Dalal S, Yeung SC. Association of body composition with outcome of docetaxel chemotherapy in metastatic prostate cancer: a retrospective review. PLoS One 10(3):e0122047, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25822612.
- Miller AH, Sandoval M, Viets-Upchurch J, Jacob A, Ma MM. Hypercalcemia in Malignancy; the Second Great Masquerader. International Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Case Reports 1(1):1-11, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Viets-Upchurch J, Silvestre J, Rice TW, Brock P, Todd K. Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression: A Review. Emergency Medicine 46(1), 2014. e-Pub 2014.
Review Articles
- Sandoval M, Wechsler AH, Alhajji Z, Viets-Upchurch J, Brock P, Lipe DN, Al-Breiki A, Yeung SJ. Evaluation and management of acute high-grade immunotherapy-related neurotoxicity. Heliyon 9(3):e13725, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36851967.
- Daniels GA, Guerrera AD, Katz D, Viets-Upchurch J. Challenge of immune-mediated adverse reactions in the emergency department. Emerg Med J 36(6):369-377, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31113799.
Abstracts
- Adriana Wechsler, Marcelo Sandoval, Jayne Viets-Upchurch. Prior Advanced Care Planning and Outcomes of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Emergency Department of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior Advanced Care Planning and Outcomes of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Emergency Department of a Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39199606.
- Chaftari PS, Cruz Carreras MT, Gonzalez CE, Viets-Upchurch J. Emergency Department intervention program for enhancing choice at the end of life. 36th Annual Emergencies in Medicine Conference, Park City UT, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Cruz Carreras MT, Chaftari PS, Gonzalez CE, Enojo R, Viets-Upchurch J. Emergency Department intervention program for enhancing choice at the end of life. MEMC-GREAT 2017 Joint Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Reeves-Viets JL, Yawn DH, Safi HJ, Childress WF, Kubicek M, Viets-Upchurch JM. A Whole Blood Transfusion is Associated with Reduced Component Utilization during Thoracic Aortic Surgery. Thoracic Aortic Surgery, Transfusion: Special Abstract Supplement 32(8S):29S, 1992. e-Pub 1992.
- Viets-Upchurch J. Spiritual care support of goal concordant care in the oncologic emergency setting. Post Conference Oncologic Emergency Medicine Conference.
- Viets-Upchurch J. Spiritual care support of goal concordant care in the oncologic emergency setting. Oncologic Emergency Medicine Conference.
Book Chapters
- Viets-Upchurch, J, Bourenane, S. Spinal Cord Compression. In: Oncologic Emergency Medicine: Principles and Practice. Second Edition. Springer Nature, 237, 2021.
- Todd KH, Jr TC. Malignant Spinal Cord Compression. In: Oncologic Emergency Medicine. Springer, 2016.
- Chaftari P, Cruz-Carreras MT, Viets-Upchurch J. Noninvasive Ventilation in the Prehospital Setting: Key Applications. In: Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation: Theory, Equipment, and Clinical Applications. Second Edition. Springer, 2016.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 22, 2026