National Father-Daughter Day: ‘She said I couldn’t borrow her scalpel’
By Nick Houser
(SACRAMENTO)
On the second Sunday of October falls a lesser known, fun "holiday:" National Father-Daughter Day. We thought it was a great opportunity to check in with a father-daughter duo at UC Davis Health.
John Anderson is a professor of surgery in the Division of Trauma, Acute Care and General Surgery. He has been with UC Davis Health since 1988. His daughter, Samantha Brown, did her emergency medicine residency here in 2019. She has been a faculty member since July 2023.
We asked them what it’s like to work together.
John, you have been at UC Davis Health since 1988. Do you think that had a bearing on Samantha’s eventual career?
John: I started first, before Sam was born. She hasn’t known a time when I wasn’t working at UC Davis Health.
Samantha: I like to say I grew up in this hospital. We have stories of me shadowing Dad in the hospital as young as five years old. I would come into his office all the time. I would go on morning rounds with him.
John Anderson, left, with teenage daughter Samantha during "Take Your Daughter to Work Day."
John: I have a picture of when I brought Samantha to “bring your daughter to work day” years ago!
Samantha: I started scrubbing in on cases when I was a teenager, back when we had an Observer Program that allowed people to scrub in to get a better educational view. I later volunteered in the Emergency Department (ED) and did EMRAP [Emergency Medicine Research Associate Program] as well. It was all full circle when I finally matched here in 2019 and ultimately got my faculty position last year.
So, there was an obvious impact for you, Samantha?
Samantha: It’s actually always been my dream to work with my dad. He’s always been my idol on what a physician should be: kind, compassionate, and dedicated to providing the best care to patients.
What would you say is the best thing about working with your dad?
Samantha: It is great to learn directly from him. I also enjoy when I see his patients in the ED and tell them that I am his daughter. His patients absolutely love him, and so I really love their reaction when I tell them that their care gets to "stay in the family."
John, what is your favorite part about working with Samantha?
John: When I hear compliments about my daughter from patients or staff who don't know she is my daughter.
How about the most challenging part?
John: There really hasn’t been anything weird or challenging so far. Though, she did say that if I needed a scalpel in the ER, she wouldn’t let me borrow hers. I guess we’ll have to deal with that when it comes up.
Samantha: Nothing! It’s been so much fun! We have a fun time working together.
How often do you see each other while on the job?
John and Samantha celebrating Match Day.
Samantha: Trauma and Emergency Medicine work very closely together, so I get to see him quite often at work! Plus, he likes to come visit me down in the ED.
OK, so we have to ask: John, has Samantha ever told you what to do at work?
Samantha: I probably do. I'm not sure he’s always listening, but that’s OK.
John: I have selective hearing, so no! But I often do what she says because I was going to do it anyway.
That’s at work. How about off the clock? How much work talk takes place, say, around the dinner table or during holidays?
John: Most of the time that we are together.
Samantha: All the time. We constantly talk about work because it isn’t just a job to us. It’s a dedication. Growing up, I could always see the passion my dad had for medicine. I was fortunate to find that same passion, so this never feels like a "job." And with his immense experience, I am constantly picking his brain about cases!
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After the interview, both Samantha and John separately wanted to clarify that Samantha would gladly give John a scalpel, just not her scalpel.
“It’s that I won’t give him the one that I always carry in my pocket,” she said. “Because you have to be prepared to do the procedures you want to do. It’s a funny inside joke for us. But I would direct him to the drawer in the resuscitation room that holds the other scalpels.”
It’s unique to find a father and daughter duo that work together. It’s even less likely you’d find a pair that work so closely together in a related field. We’re happy to highlight John and Samantha and share their passion for providing the best care at UC Davis Health and their incredible parent-child relationship on National Father-Daughter Day.
