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Specialties
To help meet the individualized needs of our patients, Connecticut Children’s offers focused care in more than 30 specialties. Explore all specialties.
Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders
Hematology and oncology specialty care is provided at Connecticut Children's Medical Center by a ...
Center for Kidney & Bladder Disorders
The Division of Nephrology at Connecticut Children’s includes specialists with a wide variety of ...
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All week long, we’re introducing you to a few of our many doctors who do double-duty as Dads! Today, meet our Associate Director of Emergency Medicine, John Brancato, MD!
What do you love most about being a Dad?
I love spending time and sharing experiences with them, as well as watching them grow and develop into their own special selves. They are REALLY different from each other in many ways but are both becoming strong young women.
How does being a Dad make you a better doctor?
I think it has helped me be even more able to identify with how a parent may feel when given a difficult diagnosis which is so important in the Emergency Department. I’m also more mindful of the practical concerns involved when we send patients home. For example, how is this parent going to handle their 6 year old who now has a full leg cast? We need to always think about the practical issues of caring for an ill or injured child at home as well as their ability to return to the ED for new or worsening symptoms.
What has been the most challenging thing about being a Dad?
Given the need for emergency physicians to work on a 24/7 schedule, I think the most challenging thing has been arranging to be with them and available for them as much as possible while also being present to give my best in the Emergency Department and the hospital. The quality of time that parents spend with their children is so important but I’ve always been mindful of not wanting my girls to grow up feeling that I wasn’t around enough. In some ways, as they get older, they need me more than ever (even if they think the opposite!).
What piece of advice would you have for other parents whose child may have a health issue?
Ask – about anything and everything! Sometimes the conversation that a physician may have with a family about a particular work up, diagnosis or management plan leads to more questions or concerns. The child’s care can only be optimal if we’re all on the same page and we can only address those additional concerns if we know about them.
All week long, we’re introducing you to a few of our many doctors who do double-duty as Dads! Today, meet Dr. Nicholas Bennett, division head of Connecticut Children’s Division of Infectious Diseases & Immunology!
What do you love most about being a Dad?
The thing I have loved most about being a Dad is seeing myself in my children, only better. They constantly surprise me with their skills and insight. It’s also a great excuse to play Nerf wars and build Lego.
How does being a Dad make you a better doctor?
The most immediate thing about being a Dad is that you can instantly relate to parents’ fears about their kids in a whole new way. Being a pediatrician doesn’t make you a better parent, but being a parent definitely makes you a better pediatrician. It can be difficult to separate your parent role from a physician at times. My son was in the NICU, and my daughter gave us a couple of medical scares as an infant too. Your ability to think things through logically is definitely not the same when it’s your own child!
What has been the most challenging thing about being a Dad?
The most challenging thing for me as a Dad has honestly been finding that work-life balance. My children are great for me, in that they encourage me to leave work to spend time with them. I have colleagues without kids who find it harder to get balance because they don’t have quite the same incentive to leave work behind! It’s something that everyone has to work on to some extent, but it’s worth it.
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