Father-son physicians give new meaning to family practice in Park Ridge

Dr. Thomas Pavlovic and his son, Dr. Chris Pavlovic, practice cardiology together at North Shore Heart and Vascular, based at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. | Contributed photo

Updated: July 15, 2012 6:15AM

Drs. Thomas and Chris Pavlovic give new meaning to “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

For them, it’s an everyday occurrence.

Thomas, 70, and son Chris, 36, are cardiologists who practice medicine together at North Shore Heart and Vascular, located at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Their partnership began three years ago when Chris Pavlovic decided to join his father, who he had noted always seemed content and enthusiastic about his work.

“It seemed like the absolute right place,” Chris said.

Though each sees his own patients, the Pavlovics often take a team approach, consulting with each other about cases.

“Independently we do talk to patients and put our heads together about therapies and diagnoses,” Thomas said. “The patients, it seems, generally enjoy it, too. I think they like the idea of a conference between two different physicians, even if we weren’t related.”

In-office services at North Shore Heart and Vascular include EKGs, cardiac-stress testing and echocardiography, among others. Procedures like coronary stenting, angioplasty and angiography are provided at the hospital.

For Chris, who actually visited his father’s medical office as a boy on the annual Take Your Child to Work Day, working with his dad is anything but daunting.

“It’s such a calm, wonderfully nice environment to be with him. It’s more relaxing with him than I imagine it would be with someone else,” he shared. “I don’t feel the same pressure I would feel trying to impress someone else.”

Chris, a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, says his father never suggested that he become a physician, but it was something he began to seriously consider by the time he started college.

For Thomas, his son’s decision to devote his life to medicine was something he never expected. And later, his joining North Shore Heart and Vascular was yet another pleasant surprise, which Thomas believes has worked out extremely well for the practice.

“To have his eyes, his own perspective at how he looks at patients and how we look at our practice has made it more efficient and productive,” he said.

But the doctors’ bond extends beyond the office. Not only do they spend their work days together, but they live side-by-side as well. When the Winnetka house next door to his parents went up for sale last year, Chris and his family purchased it.

“That was a chance occurrence,” Chris said.

And though they each drive separate cars to and from the office, Thomas said his son always waits for him at the end of the day so they can leave together and arrive back home around the same time.

“It’s having your best friend from high school still being your best friend,” Thomas said.

Being neighbors also gives Thomas more opportunities to see and spend time with his 5-year-old grandson who is “always running back and forth” between the two homes.

Chris acknowledges that he would be “extremely excited” if his son grew up wanting to take on the family profession, but he knows it must be his own decision.

“I just want him to do something that makes him happy,” Chris said. “You can’t push someone into something as time-consuming, and that requires as much training and effort, as being a doctor. I think you have to want to do that yourself.”

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