Following in My Father's Footsteps
Robert M Califf, MD: I'm Rob Califf. Welcome to the Life and Times of Leading Cardiologists. The purpose of these interviews is to understand people who are making a difference in the world of cardiology or in the world of life. Today we have Janet Wright, who has been a cardiologist for many years and has done many different things in cardiology but now has a very important job with the US government trying to make a difference for the public health of the United States.
Can you tell us about where you grew up?
Janet S Wright, MD: I grew up in a little town called Earl in the northeast section of Arkansas, about half an hour from Memphis, right across the Mississippi River. It's a town of about 3200 people.
Dr Califf: What did your parents do for a living?
Dr Wright: I was pointed toward medicine. My father was a primary-care doctor and my mother was his nurse. My brother became a dentist. I have often said that if my parents had been pilots I would have been a flight attendant at this point. It was a family business.
