Like father, like daughter at Wellstar
Jun. 17—Dr. Jose Rodriguez admits that, deep down, he hoped things might turn out this way.
"I joke with my friends, and I tell them—we've been married for like 40 plus years, my wife and I, we've always had these disagreements. My wife wanted my daughters to be happy. I want them to be doctors," said Rodriguez, a pediatrician at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Not only did Rodriguez get his wish, but his two daughters — Sandra Rodriguez-Sfeir and Saidie Rodriguez-Fogel — both followed his footsteps into pediatrics. Sandra followed close enough to be nearly stepping on his toes; she now works with him in the same department at Kennestone.
"We talk all the time. We talk about patients ... about work, family, it's amazing," Rodriguez said of working with his daughter. "Oh, I feel like sometimes I'm talking to my best friend, or she's talking to me like a best friend. I love it."
Rodriguez got into medicine by looking after animals as a child, until "someone told me 'Hey, you can do the same for humans.' Boy! Then, like, a light bulb came on." He saw the same instinct in his two daughters, who had the same instinct for caring. When playing with other kids, they would be the first to run and grab a bandage for a friend who was hurt.
Being a good pediatrician doesn't require being a parent, Rodriguez said. But it helps, and when he had his daughters, it changed the way he approached his work.
"It's different when you listen to parents, their concerns, how stress shapes their lives ... We're here to support them, to help them. Half of what I do is to help the parent," he said.
"I have always been empathetic ... but when I had children, the difference was that I was able to tell them, 'Yes, I know how you feel,'" Rodriguez added.
Fatherhood — and parenting on the whole — has been brought into sharp relief by the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the disease is largely "an adult problem, not a pediatric problem ... there's a time in children's life where they realize that things that happen to them in their life can affect them."
"My eight, nine year old grandchildren ... they (have) friends who have grandparents who have died, and they ask questions," he said. Rodriguez believes the pediatric profession will be playing catch-up for years to deal with the less immediate effects of the pandemic — trauma, isolation and loss.
Rodriguez also wanted to pass a message along to MDJ readers, particularly the fathers among them. June, he noted, is conveniently men's health month.
"To be their father is also taking care of your children's needs, not just celebrate your life," he said, and that includes looking after one's health.
"Like how athletes look at their stats to improve performance, men need to regularly visit the doctor to know personal medical stats to maintain wellness, catch illnesses, and prevent health conditions from getting worse," added Suzanne Forte, Wellstar spokesperson.
Working alongside his daughter, Rodriguez said he feels pride as a father every day. As Father's Day approaches, Rodriguez looks forward to kicking back and enjoying a spread of food with his family. The affable doctor takes a philosophical, but ever whimsical, view of the holiday.
"Father's Day is a celebration of fulfilling your destiny on this Earth, which is to multiply — and pay taxes," he said.
