He liked deep sea fishing, she liked photography. He played lead guitar in a rock band; she sang madrigals with the Tigerlilies, Princeton University’s first women’s a cappella group. He was computer savvy, she covered yellow tablets with tiny print. They found common ground in cardiovascular medicine and now married 21 years with one daughter, Kimberly, 14, Drs. William (Bill) and Lynne Stevenson have served in the Department of Medicine’s Cardiovascular Division for over a decade. Recently each passed a career milestone: promotion to Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. So how do they do it? How do they juggle their academic medical careers, their marriage, a teenager, and the family dog, Cider, along with the responsibilities and commitments that come with being national leaders and innovators in their fields? “Just barely”, they say, but they are smiling. What have they learned, about themselves, their careers and how to juggle life as Brigham’s first husband-and-wife Professor team in clinical cardiology? We asked them.

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“As a husband and wife recruitment to the division, they called us a “Twofer”, they recall. The couple met during their residency at the UCLA Medical Center, married, and served on the UCLA faculty for ten years before Dr. Gilbert “Punky” Mudge and Dr. Thomas Smith, then Chief of Cardiology at Brigham and Women’s, lured them to Boston. “The timing was right because they were looking to fill positions in both of our fields,” Lynne reflects. “And professionally,” Bill adds, “it was a great time to relocate because the expanding fields of heart failure and electrophysiology were creating many new career opportunities for us. We feel very fortunate to have been able to join Brigham and Women’s Hospital during these exciting times. Both professionally and personally the Brigham has been a wonderful place for us.”

Bill Stevenson was recruited as Co-director, then became Director of the BWH Arrhythmia Service and Electrophysiology Lab, and was subsequently appointed Director of the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program, committed to developing young clinical investigators. Spending many hours in the cardiac electrophysiology laboratory with patients referred from around the country, he is renowned for his skill and patience in curing heart rhythm disorders with catheter ablation. Lynne Stevenson came as Clinical Director of the Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure Program, which provides care for advanced heart failure patients. She is now co-director of the Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure Program within the Advanced Heart Disease Section and supervises the Advanced Cardiomyopathy Therapy (ACT) Unit that she established to provide inpatients with the newest technology options in a comfortable continuity setting. She feels very fortunate to have participated in the growth of the program with fellows, faculty colleagues and expert nurses who all share their dedication to the care of this challenging disease.

Working in the same division at UCLA and the Brigham has led to many collaborative opportunities for the couple, and inspired new directions in their fields. “Bill moved me into the computer age” says Lynne Stevenson with a laugh. “In fact, early in my career, I began to collect novel data on our growing heart failure experience. It was Bill’s encouragement and teaching that helped us learn and share insights from the largest heart failure hemodynamic database at that time. We learned how to program all of our own survival statistic analyses. The success of that project was in large part due to Bill’s familiarity with computers and his willingness to tackle new techniques.” Without him, she might still be adding columns by hand in account books!

“Sharing our interests in heart rhythm disorders and heart failure allowed us to develop an expertise in the overlap between our two fields” says Bill. They were among the first to focus attention on this area and have published together on this interface since 1987. “Over the years, Lynne and I have worked together to examine the relationship between heart rhythm disturbances, heart failure, and sudden death.” Such collaborations extend to the clinic, he explains: “Arrhythmias are a common problem in people with heart failure. Lynne and I have many opportunities to care for the same patients, bringing our different perspectives to the clinic.” Patients calling often specify the “male” or “female” Dr. Stevenson.

Bill and Lynne Stevenson’s commitment to education has earned them some of the most prestigious teaching accolades in academic medicine. In 2003, Bill Stevenson was included in the list of Top 30 Teachers for Educational Programs by the American College of Cardiology, and in 2004 he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award at the BWH Department of Medicine’s Education Day Celebration. In 1998, Lynne Stevenson was recognized for her excellence in teaching in the area of clinical cardiology with the Eugene Braunwald Teaching Award and, in 2004, the National Institutes of Health selected her as an NIH Great Teacher.

As mentors for Brigham’s young physicians, the two share ideas in the car and over dinner. Asked what she most often tells junior faculty, Lynne Stevenson recalls the different ways in which she and her husband first approached cardiology. “Bill always knew that he wanted to pursue electrophysiology and began training for that goal during his medical housestaff rotations. I was a relative latecomer. UCLA was desperate for someone to start transplant cardiology and I decided to give it a try. I followed serendipity; Bill had a plan. Both approaches have worked for us. I like to remind young doctors that they don’t have to commit themselves too early in their career.” On the other hand, she urges them to immerse themselves in some project as soon as possible. “It is far better to change direction than to lack it,” she advises. She urges young physicians to be alert to newer career paths. “Serendipity plays a role in every career. Be prepared to see it and answer to it.”

At the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 11% of women faculty have been appointed Professors of Medicine at HMS. Reflecting on the statistics, Lynne Stevenson says, “it is important that women be seen in these positions because it shows other women that it can be done. The maternal commitment occurs in a relatively circumscribed time, which is a critical hurdle that we need to face. Women may take longer to advance. On the other hand, many women get a second wind after their children have gone to college; there needs to be room for these women to accelerate back into the fast lane. They should not be too molded by the treadmill on which most men operate. Even the prepositions are revealing. Many women view success according to how far along they’ve come rather than how high up they have climbed. “As an example”,” she explains, “many academic institutions are looking for women chiefs. To many of their male colleagues, becoming chief of a division or department is an expected next step on the ladder, frequently requiring re-locating a family. But most women don’t have leadership experience over their peers, and many don’t care to be chiefs. It is these differences of internal direction, as well as differences in the external constraints, that keep the percentage of recognized women leaders in academic medicine lower.”

The young physician-mother’s dilemma, to put one’s medical career aside on hold to raise a family, was never an option for Lynne Stevenson, since her daughter was born after her career had gathered momentum. “By the time our daughter came, I felt my responsibility first to her, but then also to my teachers who had invested themselves in my career, and to my colleagues who relied on me. If I had pulled back, others would have had to take on extra loads, compromising their own home lives. If we feel that things need to be different in the world, how can we limit our personal obligation to one family, leaving all the changes for our children to make in the next generation? On the other hand, Bill or I have been there for every major school event, which requires coverage support from our colleagues. Of course there are many times when we wonder if it would have been easier for Kimberly if we were the ones to pick her up every day after school. However, her different life experiences have contributed to make her the remarkable person she is, and we have all worked together to make it work. Bill and I always supported one another in the decisions. This lifestyle would never have been possible without Bill’s support and confidence in me. Not even close.”

When young physicians ask their advice on balancing work with family, a quick and truthful response is “there is no right answer”. Lynne says, “It takes a lot of flexibility. It is also recognizing that ‘you can have it all, but not at the same time.’ This is traditionally told to women faculty, yet it is true for all of us. You need to be able to enjoy what you are doing at the time and not let the richness of each experience be diluted by worrying that you’re not somewhere else. This focus saves energy and helps me be more effective.” Bill Stevenson adds, “We are fortunate because with our similar interests, we attend many conferences and meetings together. We have interesting, stimulating venues in which to catch up with each other as well as discuss research and education. When school schedules permit, our daughter often joins us on these trips. These are really special times.” He adds “If we could have changed one aspect of our path, it would have been to be closer to family. Our parents have been wonderfully supportive throughout our careers. Even now they often fly from Florida to the cold Northeast to help out during times when schedules are particularly difficult, but we don’t have extended family in the area to lean on when last minute help is needed. To deal with the unexpected, you need many layers of back-up.”

Between teaching, research, and lecturing around the world, the family also relaxes together. All 3 play golf, returning this summer from a trip to St. Andrews, Scotland where Kim made par on the last hole of the famed “Old Course.” Bill has coached her well. “I love to watch her; she drives the ball way beyond me every time”, says Lynne. In the winter, they play music. “I had rock bands throughout high school and college,” Bill says, “ At UCLA, I was part of a cardiology jazz group that Lynne sang in as well.” And yes, Lynne can sing a few rock tunes and blues. With Kim bringing her own style with jazz flute, they are strongest as a trio.

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