SPOTLIGHT versity was the linchpin , in terms of me getting involved in academic medicine as a career . As my first year of fellowship was coming to an end , I was trying to decide whether I wanted to focus my energy in the lab , working with great investigators at Washington University , or the clinic , learning about leukemia and transplant . Doug opened the door for academic success and got me involved with ongoing clinical projects that he , John DiPersio , MD , PhD , and other members of the group there had already started . Doug made me feel like I was part of these projects from the beginning .
At Ohio State , I worked especially closely with Guido Marcucci , MD , Clara Bloomfield , MD , and John Byrd , MD . Guido , in particular , welcomed my involvement with ongoing ideas and projects . It was great training , and meaningful to me both personally and professionally .
You have different specialties within hematology , but does your work ever overlap ? Bill : We certainly work closely – our offices are just 20 yards apart . Occasionally we get to eat lunch together , but we do not interact much professionally during the day . The area where we tend to interact most is in transplantation ; patients with leukemia who I see and patients with lymphoma who Kristie sees will often move to transplant or some form of cellular therapy . I typically see her patients more often than she sees mine because I encounter them on the ward , while there is not as much opportunity for Kristie to meet my patients because of how the lymphoma program is set up .
Kristie : When Bill sees my patients , he likes to play a little game where he tries to convince them to tell me , “ I met your husband and I think he ’ s the better Blum .” From what I gather , many of them are reluctant to do so , but it ’ s always in good fun .
Bill : The fact of the matter is that I ’ ve told all of them that I ’ m the better Blum – I just have yet find one who agrees with me .
What is it like to work so closely in the same field ? Bill : It ’ s wonderful to be excited by similar academic topics and to have shared experiences . When we go to the American Society of Hematology ( ASH ) annual meeting , for example , it ’ s fun to be there with my wife , even though we are going to our own sessions or various other academic ventures .
Kristie : One year , we attended the ASH annual meeting together as fellows , when the imatinib plenary session was presented . That sticks in my mind as a real highlight – witnessing such a practice-changing presentation with your partner . If we were in different fields , we wouldn ’ t have somebody beside us to understand how momentous that was .
Bill : Also , because we are hematologists within academic malignant hematology in the same practice , we know each other ’ s colleagues quite well . It certainly makes scheduling easier – they know we can ’ t both be on service at the same time [ because of our children ].
Bill : Hematology is certainly a big part of our lives . We may not discuss the details of every patient we see , as Kristie has expertise in lymphoma that I don ’ t have and I have expertise in leukemia that she doesn ’ t have , but we are there for each other when we need to decompress . We will share stories and discuss the personal aspect of care and try to support each other when tough things happen , as they often do . However , we also realize that we need to make a conscious effort to talk about other things , as well .
Kristie : There are days when we talk a little bit more about work and others when we try to dial that back . With three boys at home ( Peter , 11 ; Jack , 15 ; and Joe , 17 ), we make an effort to focus on them and not talk shop so much .
The Blum family on a beach vacation .
Bill : Usually , we have distractions because of the kids . Yesterday , we had to ban Pete from wearing socks inside the house . He kept sliding around on the hardwood floors like it was black ice ! On two consecutive days , he slipped and fell on his head , so the socks inside are over . Hearing that thud tends to refocus your attention where it needs to be .
Kristie : They keep us on our toes , but having three boys is fantastic . It ’ s going to be a lot different when they start to head off to college and the house gets much quieter .
How did you balance raising a family with managing your careers ? Kristie : I always struggle with the term “ work-life balance .” To me , there isn ’ t a single right way to do it – you just jump in to help the kids with what they need and what they need is always changing . Then , when you think you ’ re doing it the right way , they get a little older and their needs change again .
The boys are all in different stages now and much more independent , but when they were younger and needed me more , there were certain times when most of our lives were spent transporting them to different activities or helping them with homework .
We have athletic boys , so there was a big chunk of our middle years when we were all on a different athletic field almost every night of the week , but I loved that time . I fondly remember all the spring days sitting on a baseball field , chatting with the other moms , and watching the kids play . It was forced downtime , in a sense .
Bill : I think the biggest part of that “ balance ” is making sure the kids get the together time with us that they need .
Kristie : There ’ s a lot of playing basketball , throwing the baseball , and tossing the football , depending on the season . The boys are always playing something different and Bill is right out there with them . With the pandemic , we ’ ve been spending more time playing board games .
We also have a very energetic dog , a Border Collie− Lab mix , so you can always hear arguing about who is taking her out for a run or throwing the ball with her .
Bill : As a family , we are big National Park fans , so we enjoy traveling whenever we can . We ’ ve been fortunate to see many incredible parts of the country that way , hiking and enjoying the wildlife and being out in nature . Planning the trips with the kids is part of the fun .
Tell us about a favorite trip . Kristie : Visiting Yellowstone National Park is up there , and we also enjoyed Glacier National Park in Montana where we did some rafting and backpacking .
Bill : Glacier was great – the kids were older and we basically backpacked in the forest and rafted the glacial rivers with no crowds .
Have any of your sons expressed a desire to follow in your footsteps into medicine ? Bill : I don ’ t know . Our oldest , Joe , certainly is interested in biology and the sciences . Jack is more mathematically inclined . Our youngest , Pete , has , as the teachers who have taught all our boys have said , “ a little bit more ‘ little boy ’ in him than the other little boys .” We don ’ t know what he ’ s going to do , but we know he ’ s going to have fun .
Kristie : Nothing fazes him , so he ’ ll definitely be happy .
Do you often discuss work outside of the clinic ? What do you enjoy doing as a family ?
Bill : Yeah , if he survives . ●
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