A Letter To My Daughter

As a physician, I am entrusted with the future well-being of my patients. The only greater privilege than tending to my patients is that of being a parent. In fact, there are many parallels between the two roles. Both improve with experience. Both require a heightened insight into others.  Both respond best to leading by example.  And both have limits to their influence.

Recently, my wife and I helped my daughter move into her dorm room in preparation for her first year of college.  Since she is the eldest of my two children, this was a new and enlightening experience.  As I reflected on these years of being a father, I wrote a letter to my daughter.  You are welcome to read it here.

Back when I was in medical school, I learned an overwhelming amount of information.  I now realize that most of what I know now about medicine was learned in the years following medical school.  I suppose that is why they don’t have a school for parents.