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MEDICAL SCHOOL
EVALUATION & GRADUATION

Generational Medicine:

When Several Generations of a Family Pursue

Medicine as a Career

By Rodolfo “Rudy” Molina, MD, MACR, FACP

When I was asked to write about why I thought all three of my chil- tional Radiology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He
dren pursued a medical career, I drew a quick blank and thought it provided this response:
best to ask them for their input. The answers I received sent a clear “I believe that values will ultimately lead an individual to a profes-
message, at least for me. I must mention, none were pre-med majors sion or vocation if that individual is presented with the right oppor-
when they entered college and both my wife, also an MD, and I were tunities. My parents gave me any and all opportunities to grow my
very supportive and excited for them as they pursued their education. sense of self and my mind. Respect for my fellow humans, compassion
I asked them for the why. The following are their answers. for the suffering, logical rigor and the notion that scientific knowledge
Our oldest, Eric, graduated from Stanford with a degree in Cell Bi- and advancement not only can be achieved, but that achievement is a
ology and then worked in the private sector at Genentech before ap- moral imperative in order to prevent the needless loss of human time,
plying to medical school. I’m proud to say he is graduating as life and dignity. These are the principles that I observed at the base of
Valedictorian from the MD and PhD program at Baylor College of my parents’ motivation. Their values became my own, but I chose to
Medicine (my wife and my alma mater) and is pursuing an Interven- pursue them in a slightly different way by adding a PhD in Bioengi-

24 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • June 2021