Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Connecting the lines between father and child

Jordan Grumet, MD
Physician
December 24, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share

I both look forward to and despise Sunday mornings.  I awake just before the sun and am on the road by 5:15 a.m.  Although I dread being upright so early on the weekend, I rejoice because it is the only trip to work, all week, at a leisurely pace.  I see the new admits at the nursing home, run by the hospital if necessary, and return just as my family is leaving their beds.

The thirty-minute car ride gives me ample time to reflect.  I often think of my father.  A physician, he died well before I was old enough to understand who he was as a doctor, or a man for that matter.  I often wonder about the parallels.

Did he arise early on the weekend so as to come back before his kids noticed he was gone?  Did he have my bedside manner?  Or I his? Was he the kind of husband and father that I am?

Bringing up my own children has made me ponder the equal parts that go into building a young personality.  My father died when I was eight.  Was that old enough to imprint on me this drive to become a physician?  This will to work insane hours? To be relentless?  Maybe it was all genetics, and his behavior had very little effect.

These thoughts make me worry about my kids.  I would give them everything they need to be happy successful adults if I just knew how.  Or maybe in the giving, I am causing harm.  Maybe I need to let them run free without direction and let will be the guide.  The possibilities are dizzying and the options endless.

So I plot and plunder as best as I can.  I sometimes dole advice and others hold my tongue. I try to be an example of honesty, and hard work, and integrity.  I fail from time to time. Or maybe often.

I woke up this Sunday morning.  Like every Sunday morning.  Before everyone else.  In order to be a good physician and father.  Driving the same roads, I had the same thoughts.  I returned home to find that my son had crawled out of bed an hour early, slipped his clothes on, and was shoveling the neighbors snow.  Apparently he also had work to do.

And time passes, memories of Dad fade, and my children grow forming their own pathways.

They connect the lines between father and child.

Child and father.

Jordan Grumet is an internal medicine physician who blogs at In My Humble Opinion. Watch his talk at dotMED 2013, Caring 2.0: Social Media and the Rise Of The Empathic Physician. He is the author of I Am Your Doctor: and This Is My Humble Opinion.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

When can I follow my intuition?

December 24, 2016 Kevin 3
…
Next

Doing what's best for patients may be worse for populations

December 24, 2016 Kevin 7
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
When can I follow my intuition?
Next Post >
Doing what's best for patients may be worse for populations

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Jordan Grumet, MD

  • The man who changed the world with baseball cards

    Jordan Grumet, MD
  • A hospice doctor’s advice on getting your finances in order

    Jordan Grumet, MD
  • A story of persistence in the face of death

    Jordan Grumet, MD

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • If your child is ever prescribed an opioid, read this post first

    Michael Milobsky, MD
  • What my father taught me about language

    Sarah Fashakin
  • My child wants to be a doctor

    Robin Dickinson, MD
  • Battling the opiate crisis on the front lines

    Tom Fowler, MD
  • Connecting health care, voting, and our communities

    Yumiko Nakamura and Vishnu Muppala

More in Physician

  • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

    Pamela Adelstein, MD
  • When rock bottom is a turning point: Why the turmoil at HHS may be a blessing in disguise

    Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD
  • How grief transformed a psychiatrist’s approach to patient care

    Devina Maya Wadhwa, MD
  • Fear of other people’s opinions nearly killed me. Here’s what freed me.

    Jillian Rigert, MD, DMD
  • What independent and locum tenens doctors need to know about fair market value

    Dennis Hursh, Esq
  • How one simple breakfast question can transform patient care

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Meds
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why the words doctors use matter more than they think

      Erin Paterson | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients

      Charles LeBaron, MD | Conditions
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • Reimagining diabetes care with nutrition, not prescriptions

      William Hsu, MD | Conditions
    • Why funding cuts to academic medical centers impact all of us [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Meds
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why the words doctors use matter more than they think

      Erin Paterson | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients

      Charles LeBaron, MD | Conditions
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • Reimagining diabetes care with nutrition, not prescriptions

      William Hsu, MD | Conditions
    • Why funding cuts to academic medical centers impact all of us [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...