Drs. Ingida Asfaw, Sofya Asfaw, and Zewditu Asfaw
Ingida Asfaw, MD, FACS, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Detroit Medical Center, MI, and its affiliate hospitals in the city, is no stranger to mission work. He is a past-recipient of the ACS Volunteerism Award for his work in his native Ethiopia and other developing nations.
Dr. Ingida Asfaw and his wife instilled in their daughters鈥擲ofya Asfaw, MD, FACS, a trauma and critical care surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, OH, and Zewditu Asfaw, MD, a cardiothoracic and critical care surgeon in Detroit鈥攁 commitment to serving others, regardless of the profession they chose.
鈥淔irst and foremost, I鈥檓 extremely proud of my daughters and that they are in the specialty of surgery. They are serving humanity and the community. That alone is a wonderful position to have,鈥 Dr. Ingida Asfaw said. 鈥淚n my effort to help them grow and choose the profession they liked I would tell them, 鈥楳edicine is a noble profession. If that is what you want to do, I鈥檒l help you in any way possible to achieve your wishes and your goals and purpose in life.鈥欌
Dr. Sofya Asfaw can鈥檛 recall a time when she wanted to be in any other profession. 鈥淔or as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a surgeon鈥攁ctually a cardiothoracic surgeon like my father. That ended up being my sister, and I ended up being a trauma surgeon,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 can say without a shadow of a doubt it was because of the big role model I had in front of me.鈥
In contrast, Dr. Zewditu Asfaw said she originally wanted to be a lawyer, but 鈥淚 joke that I inherited his bad genes. I did everything I could to fight the urge to go into cardiothoracic surgery. A lot of it was because I saw how hard my dad worked. When we were younger, he wasn鈥檛 home as much as he or we would have wanted him to be.鈥
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just about him not being home as much as we would have liked, but also seeing what surgery entails鈥攌nowing what the lifestyle is like,鈥 added Dr. Sofya Asfaw. 鈥淚 had questions about whether I could be present as a surgeon, as a mother, and do it all. That鈥檚 definitely something we had to keep in mind, knowing how hard our father worked and knowing that he tried to make it to as much as he could, but there were certainly times when he couldn鈥檛 make it to ballet recitals and other events. Balancing that with being a woman in surgery was definitely a consideration.鈥
鈥淗e was very realistic with us,鈥 Dr. Zewditu Asfaw noted. 鈥淗e would say, 鈥榊ou know, as a female, going into surgery, it鈥檚 going to be harder. You鈥檙e going to be away from your family. If you鈥檙e going to have children, you鈥檙e going to have to juggle motherhood and surgery. So, make sure that is absolutely what you want to do.鈥欌
Both sisters say one challenge they have faced in residency and practice as the daughters of a highly regarded surgeon is that patients and colleagues often ask if they are related to Dr. Ingida Asfaw.
鈥淲hen I moved back home to Detroit, I started residency at the hospital where my dad was a very beloved attending,鈥 Dr. Zewditu Asfaw said. 鈥淚 think every time I stepped into an elevator, people would ask me if I knew Dr. Asfaw because they saw my badge. By my chief year, I would say, 鈥業 am Dr. Asfaw. Are you asking about my dad?鈥欌
鈥淧eople at the Cleveland Clinic will stop me and ask, 鈥楧o you know Dr. Asfaw? He trained me,鈥 or 鈥業 worked with him.鈥 I can鈥檛 escape it, and I鈥檓 in another state,鈥 Dr. Sofya Asfaw added.
Dr. Zewditu Asfaw said she felt particular pressure to live up to her father鈥檚 reputation when she was a cardiothoracic fellow at The University of Chicago, IL. 鈥淚 felt like I always had to be 鈥榦n鈥 because I didn鈥檛 want to disappoint him. I still feel that way鈥攍ike if I don鈥檛 do things exactly the same way he does, it will disappoint him. But I鈥檝e learned that as long as I鈥檓 happy, he鈥檚 happy,鈥 she said.
鈥淲hen your father is a surgeon and chief of staff of a hospital, it鈥檚 a lot to live up to and some big shoes to fill, so sometimes you start to feel inadequate. You鈥檙e always supposed to do better than your parents, but when your parents are the best, it鈥檚 hard to do better than that,鈥 Dr. Sofya Asfaw added.
However, the sisters agree that the advantages of being descendants of an esteemed surgeon far outweigh the occasional disadvantages.
鈥淲hen I was pregnant with my son, I couldn鈥檛 stand for long periods of time. If it wasn鈥檛 for my dad, my son probably would not be here. My dad would come into the hospital and OR before me and might open the patient. I would take a break to go sit down, and he would start the case. It was like I was the attending, and he was the fellow,鈥 Dr. Zewditu Asfaw said.
鈥淗e鈥檚 very open to learning, which is sort of unique,鈥 she added. 鈥淪ome of the little spats we would have in the OR were about me wanting to do certain things a certain way, but he would let me take the lead and show him how I learned to do things in the fellowship. For an older surgeon, that鈥檚 amazing.鈥
鈥淭hat鈥檚 all a dad could want鈥攆or his children to do better, to do great things, to be innovators.鈥 Dr. Ingida Asfaw said. 鈥淚 was very open to learning. I was in my early 80s and having her by my side helping to provide service to an urban and indigent population was a great joy to me.鈥
Drs. Sofya and Zewditu Asfaw said their father is just one role model they have had. 鈥淭his article is about us and our dad, but our mom [Elizabeth Asfaw, PhD] ran her own clinical lab in a time when it was the only Black, female-run laboratory in Detroit, if not the entire state of Michigan. She was a working mother and was on boards working with domestic violence victims, and she and my dad are both very passionate about giving back to Ethiopia,鈥 Dr. Zewditu Asfaw said.
鈥淲e have to give credit where credit is due, and that is to my mother who keeps us all together. There is absolutely no way my sister, my brother [who leads an affiliate of United Healthcare], and my dad could do what we do without her,鈥 Dr. Sofya Asfaw said. 鈥淪he runs back and forth between states to take care of our children, so we can be surgeons and be sure the children are growing and thriving. There鈥檚 no way we鈥檇 even be having this conversation if she didn鈥檛 exist.鈥
