Dad as Career Advisor:

The years flowed by and I grew up. Inevitably, I was drawn to the attraction of a career as a scientific investigator, as my father had been. Looking back, from junior high school on, I don't think I seriously considered anything but science. The question, as always, was did I have what it would take? Dad always encouraged me. I think he was happy about my choices, even though I went into molecular biology and didn't even take one undergraduate physiology course, his area of expertise. Then, it was on to graduate school for a PhD, like him. A curious thing happened then. The science was fascinating and I have never encountered anything so intellectually challenging or stimulating as laboratory research. But something was missing for me. After five years and the end in sight, I started to look around for jobs and consider what kind of career I was going to have. Part of me was not being fulfilled and I really didn't know why or what was missing. We spent the Christmas and New Year's holiday in Davis and I had the opportunity to talk to my Dad about my uncertainties. We were discussing my career path on January 1, 1975. I was feeling like I had disappointed him and was very confused about the future. That is when he said to me "Why don't you go to medical school?" This was like a lightening flash - I had never considered myself as doctor material. But from the moment he said it, things inside me started to fall into place. His insight literally changed my life, and, as it turned out, he knew things about me that were not obvious to me!