The old adage “Like father, like son” is a fitting description for a father-son duo who work as Freeman Health System physicians.

Dr. Dennis Estep serves as an occupational medicine physician based at Freeman OccuMed, a specialized clinic he and his team established in 1992. His eldest son, Dr. William Estep, is an internal medicine physician with Freeman Southwest Internal Medicine.

While their individual workdays are whirlwinds of activity, Father’s Day allows each to momentarily reflect on the other, and to appreciate just how rare it is for father to work alongside son, in service to patients.

“It’s always fun when I pick up a patient’s chart and I see, ‘Oh, they saw Dr. Dennis Estep,’” William said with a smile. “I’m able to pick up where [Dad] left off, so there’s some continuity of care there.”

“It’s been really nice when I see patients for an injury and they’ll tell me, ‘Well, I’m seeing your son, Dr. William Estep’ and I’ll say, ‘OK, how are things going?’” added Dennis. “It’s always reassuring because they’re always so positive. It’s really nice to have that feeling that they’re being well taken care of.”

“It is a wise father who knows his own child.” – William Shakespeare

Both physicians navigated unconventional, roundabout career paths. Dennis’s entry into medicine was delayed, while William initially wanted nothing to do with it.

“He didn’t really want to be a physician,” Dennis said of his son.

It’s true, William admitted. Since middle school age, he’d wanted to be an engineer. Biomechanical engineering, particularly prosthetics, had caught his attention. 

Halfway through engineering school, however, Dennis developed a heart condition. A growing fascination with how the human body worked “kind of pushed me into, ‘OK, look more at this anatomy, look more at this physiology,” William said, and that propelled him toward internal medicine.

“When [William] finally told us, ‘I’m actually thinking about going into medicine,’ it was suddenly, ‘Oh, okay’ because that wasn’t something he had started out [wanting], and we wanted to be really supportive of him,” Dennis said of his son. “We were really excited when he decided to do his residency here [at Freeman], because he had been gone for nine years. That was very exciting and very humbling.”

Dennis, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a physician.

“I went to college, but I did not get into medical school to begin with, so I pursued other avenues,” he stated. 

Those other “avenues” included stints working at a chemical factory and in construction.

“I later realized that [medicine] is what I really wanted to do, so I applied again to med school and got in,” Dennis shared. “I actually did part of my fourth year of medical school and my internship at Oak Hill/Freeman East, and when I went on to do my residency, Freeman recruited me all the way through residency to come back, and it seemed like a really good fit, so I came back.”

“And that was supposed to be a two- or three-year [stop]?” William asked his father, grinning.

“Yeah. I figured it would be a two- or three-year stepping stone into the corporate world. But 34 years later…”

Due in part to his earlier chemical and construction careers, Dennis naturally migrated to outpatient, non-surgical treatment of workplace injuries. It’s the reason he established Freeman OccuMed. The occupational treatment center helps control the high cost of workers' compensation and medical services by reducing the incidence and severity of injuries and time lost from work while giving good care to those injured on the job.

“Having been a patient—I had an injury when I was in my early 20s and then later, a heart issue—it really does change your perspective of, ‘Alright, how do I want to be treated?’” Dennis said.

“Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.” – Charles F. Kettering

When asked what makes him proud of his father, William doesn’t hesitate: His honesty.

“Every person you talk to says how honest and reliable [he is],” he remarked. “Honesty has been what we grew up [with]. Honesty all the time is hard.”

“I think,” Dennis said after a moment of reflection, “watching William grow into a physician and really watching him develop” is his proudest moment. “It’s sometimes so surreal to watch him and realize he is the attendee in internal medicine so now I’ll ask him questions.”

William grinned. “Oh, it’s so fun to be able to consult you. ‘Hey, I’ve got a dog bite, and I haven’t taken care of one of these in several years, what do I do?’”

“To be able to bounce things off each other has been fun,” Dennis added.

William acknowledged that a vital lesson he’s learned over the years is the absolute necessity for deeply compassionate, patient-centered care.  

“Being a physician, a lot of times, is about being there for people who don’t have much education [about medical situations], and that’s what [Dennis] taught me. It doesn’t matter if someone is a line worker, they still want to know what’s going on with them.”

Their differences reflect generational divides.

“You still use paper charts,” William said, grinning at Dennis.

“That’s true,” Dennis admitted, smiling. “I’m still using paper charts.”

“A son’s first hero is his father.” – Anonymous

When asked what they hope their patients will most remember them by, both father and son paused for a moment, deep in thought.

“That we did a good job of taking care of them and caring for them,” Dennis said.

“That at the end of the day,” William added moments later, “we were in their corner.”