OCTOBER 3 • 2019 | 17

questions,” George said. 
“They just trust us,” 
Robert said.
Natalie, while serving a 
residency at St. John’
s Hospital 
on Moross in Detroit, said she 
saw children who experienced 
seizures, lots of premature 
babies because mothers did 
not receive prenatal care and 
non-accidental childhood 
injuries 
. She also has spent 
six weeks treating children at 
a hospital in Malawi and has 
taken three medical mission 
trips to South America with 
her father. While there, the 
whole team of doctors visited 
schools and treated between 
1,800 and 2,500 children a day.
She added that though her 
father and grandfather are 
pediatricians and taught her 
bedside manners, medical 
terminology and transcribing 
notes into a patient’
s medical 
chart, medical school was still 
challenging.
“It’
s a lot to live up to, but 
it’
s really nice to have 60 years 
of experience and someone I 
can call on,
” she said about her 
elders in the office. “I learned 
how to talk to patients way 
before I became a doctor. The 
three of us have the same kind 
of sense of humor.
”

STILL PASSIONATE
Today, George and Robert 
Blum say they still enjoy the 
practice of pediatrics, even 
though George is nearing 
60 years in the business and 
Robert, 25 years. George, a 
member of Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek, said he not 
only still loves interacting with 
children, he also relishes the 
challenge of making an accu-
rate medical diagnosis, and 
loves reading medical journals. 
He mentioned that some of 
his former patients are now 

grandparents bringing their 
grandkids in for care.
“It’
s important that I stay up 
to date and that I teach med-
ical school students,
” George 
said. “Our family believes in 
doing what we can to the best 
of our ability.
”
Robert, who is married to 
Tracye and a member of Adat 
Shalom Synagogue, said he 
feels he has made the right 
career choice.
“Twenty-five years in, I like 
being a pediatrician more than 
when I started,
” he said. 
Natalie, also a member of 
Adat Shalom, said she has her 
own path to forge as a young 
pediatrician.
“My goal is to make health-
ier kids,
” she said so that they 
can enjoy school. She enjoys 
watching the children she 
treats grow as well as working 
with families.
Joyce Blum, George’
s wife, 
said she is incredibly proud 
her family contains three 
generations of pediatric doc-
tors.
“It’
s hard to express the 
pride I feel knowing the 
three of them want to make 
a difference and help people,
” 
she said. “To this day, we will 
run into people who say, ‘
Dr. 
Blum, do you remember when 
you made that house call and 
I had a cake coming out of the 
oven and I gave it to you?’
 I 
really felt like I knew all these 
people and they would talk to 
me about their difficulties.
”
As for George, is retirement 
in the cards? 
“No,” he said. “Not until 
they tell me (to retire). 
Fortunately, I have a good 
memory and pretty good 
health. I work full time. I 
can’
t picture myself sitting at 
home, watching stupid televi-
sion shows.” 

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Those customers need a personal touch, which we
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