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GENERATIONAL
PERSPECTIVES

Following in her
father’s footsteps

By Margaret A. Kelley, MD

It has been a very special experience to practice with my father, over, I have had the daily encouragement of someone who had my
Harmon W. Kelley, MD for the last fifteen years. Often I am best interest at heart. In turn, I have helped my Dad with the
asked, “Did you become an OB/GYN because your dad is one?” change in technology medical practice. He has had an easier tran-
The answer is multifactorial. sition with use of electronic medical records than his colleagues of
his generation because I was there to patiently help him.
One factor was my family’s strong educational background in
the sciences. My maternal grandfather, Elmer E. O’Banion, In closing, Dad had a profound influence on me becoming an
PhD, was a physical chemist and was the head of the Natural obstetrician and gynecologist. How could I not be positively in-
Sciences Department at Prairie View A&M University. He was fluenced by his professionalism, commitment to his patients, and
instrumental placing the first black medical students in Texas overall fulfillment and happiness as a practicing obstetrician and
medical schools, through rigorous premedical preparation of gynecologist? The joy of having the privilege to practice with him
students at Prairie View A&M, and by advocating on the stu- has been a blessing.
dents’ behalf. One of those students was my father, Harmon
W. Kelley, M.D. who is a graduate of Prairie View A&M and Margaret A. Kelley, M.D., F.A.C.O.G, is an OB-GYN who has
The University of Texas Medical Branch. Therefore, I was for- practiced in the Southeast area of San Antonio for 15 years. She is a
tunate to have a family background that was ingrained with former President of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gyne-
science. After I matriculated into Brown University’s eight- cologists.
year program in Liberal Medical Education I was on a path
to become a medical doctor.

My parents did not pressure me to become an obstetrician
and gynecologist but ironically the specialty was the one I enjoyed
the most. I suppose there was a comfort level with the specialty
because it was Dad’s specialty. However, what I liked about
OB/GYN was that it was a surgical specialty and it was a specialty
concerning women’s health. At the time, circa 1997, obstetrics and
gynecology was not a popular specialty because of the malpractice
crisis. Moreover, as I knew from my Dad’s experience, obstetrics
and gynecology was a rigorous, laborious specialty because of the
unpredictability of obstetrics. My mother ultimately encouraged
me to choose obstetrics and gynecology. At the time, she told me
it would be spectacular because I would be able to keep Dad cur-
rent on current practice guidelines OB/GYN and because he
would always be able to help and guide me. Once I made the de-
cision Dad was thrilled.

After completing my residency at the UTHSCSA in 2002, I
joined my father in private practice. It has been the best experience
of my life. I had what my family called “the Kelley Fellowship,” in
which my father perfected my gynecological surgical skills. More-

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