After a long conversation with Dr. Cindy and Dr. Steve Goldberg in their exquisite Catalina Foothills home, you get the sense that the couple has truly reaped the harvest of a lifetime dedicated to their passions: family and medicine.
A respect and discipline for medicine runs deep on both sides of the Goldberg family. Steve’s and Cindy’s fathers were both physicians. Steve’s father’s practice is still active in Tucson, though today he is a retired internist. Cindy’s father still works full time at his practice in Phoenix at age 80. Of his father-in-law, Steve smiles and says, “He lives for the job.”
A remarkable magnetism – call it beshert – seemed to draw both these families toward one another. Their fathers attended the same high school in Philadelphia. Cindy and Steve both knew from a young age they wanted to become physicians and never wavered from that educational pursuit. They met as undergraduate biology lab partners at Claremont McKenna College in California. Each of them felt pulled to “go west, not east,” Steve recalls, on their individual decisions to attend Claremont. Due to the small class sizes at the private liberal arts college, the couple stayed together for the majority of their classes and married after graduation at age 21.They were married at Temple Beth Israel in Phoenix by the same rabbi who officiated at Cindy’s bat mitzvah. Although they couldn’t apply to medical school as a couple, they were both individually accepted at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. After completing the coursework, the couple applied for and accepted dual residency placements at the University of Arizona at University Medical Center.
When asked “Why Tucson?” the couple races to share all the benefits: It was a state school and close to home; they could save a little money as a young married couple; and most importantly, they were able to establish community ties in a city they really wanted to stay in. During their residencies, Steve and Cindy gravitated toward different areas of medicine. Steve felt strongly pulled toward primary care from a young age, and he knew he found what he was seeking after his pediatrics rotation. “Kids are so enjoyable and resilient, and unlike adults, most of their medical problems aren’t self- inflicted,” Steve says. During his third year of residency, Steve was asked to join Catalina Pediatrics private practice by the original five members. Twenty years later, he’s the most senior member of the practice, and he’s seen the group evolve.
Cindy remembers feeling indecisive during the end of her residency on her specialty field until she discovered the world of obstetrics. “Obstetrics and gynecology is so diverse. It has a surgical component, a wellness component, both integrated and primary care,” she says. “It is exhilarating and very satisfying.”
Now in her 19th year at Ironwood OB/GYN in northwest Tucson, she has experienced the honor of delivering a child of a woman who she delivered years ago as a premature baby. Steve and Cindy smile with disbelief that they’re now starting to see and treat their original patients’ children.
Besides their robust private practices, the Goldbergs founded a clinical research company, Visions Clinical Research. The multispecialty, independent research facility is in its 10th year of operation and has completed more than 100 clinical trials. Their entrepreneurial spirit has enabled the company to prosper. This year the company was one of one eight U.S. research facilities invited to participate in an elite symposium on best practices, hosted in Barcelona, Italy. According to its website, Visions has an emphasis on women’s health care, endocrinology, rheumatology, gastroenterology and pediatrics. Its scientific studies, which are conducted in accordance with strict Food and Drug Administration guidelines, help pharmaceutical companies evaluate the safety and effectiveness of new, life-enhancing products. “Our goal is to help streamline the process of bringing safe and effective medications to market for widespread use,” says the site. “By participating in our studies participants benefit from new medications in a safe, medically monitored environment. They may also receive study-related medical evaluations, laboratory testing and medication that may otherwise be unaffordable for them.”
Despite all the couple’s success, “talking shop” and milestones aren’t their true joy. They don’t enjoying bringing work home. Steve says of his wife, “Cindy’s so much more than a great doctor. She’s a terrific mom, a fantastic wife, a great cook and an athlete.” Cindy agrees their family makes the effort to lead a balanced life. When asked about their greatest professional point of pride, the couple glosses
over the fact that they are leaders among their peers at the office, instead claiming, “It’s managing the lifestyle and family in addition to the office, its more than just good patient care.”
For instance, before their daughter left for college, the entire family sat down at least four times a week for a home-cooked dinner. The family endured a big obstacle when Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. Although she’s been cancer free the past six years, the initial diagnosis came as a shock to everyone. She underwent treatment at the same time as two relatives who received cancer diagnoses. She was completely private about her cancer throughout her entire diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Not even her office manager knew. In fact, other than those who see her at Tucson’s Komen Race for the Cure, few of her patients and friends know. Cindy loves to run; she took first place last year in the survivor’s group race and second place this year at the Komen Race.
“I struggled (with cancer), especially as a provider. I felt like I was wearing a big ‘C’ on my back,” she says. “Even today, I only wear a pink shirt for a few hours one day a year.” Thankfully, Cindy’s cancer did not require chemotherapy. After six weeks of radiation and a lumpectomy, she was cancer free. The family celebrated with a trip to Europe.
“That was a trip that really came from our hearts,” Cindy recalls. She and Steve agree that this was a favorite among many trips the family has taken together. “It reaffirmed that we needed to live and not wait.” The family visited Paris, Nice and London.
As easily as the conversation flows with the Goldbergs, the topic always circles back to their children, Rachel and Josh. Rachel, 21, is attending Arizona State University. Josh, 18, is a senior at Catalina Foothills High School. From their enthusiasm for their children’s numerous endeavors, it is clear that the two are engaged parents.
“It is hard to look forward when the past looks so great,” Cindy confesses, as she speaks of the imminent transition to becoming empty nesters. Josh leaves for Butler University in the fall as a recruited walk-on for their baseball team. He played basketball and baseball during high school, and Steve coached his team until middle school. “For student athletes, things have really changed,” says Steve. “Including off-season practice, the season never really ends.” Rachel’s choice to pursue the nursing program at ASU doesn’t
come as a big surprise to her parents. Medicine runs in the family. During college, Rachel studied abroad in Spain and toured several European countries while she was abroad.
Judaism has always been a mainstay of their family tradition. “We’ve always tried to instill how great Judaism is,” Steve says, “although our main parenting goal is for them to be happy, productive people, however they define that.”
Steve shares the two primary rules he’s striven to enforce as a parent. One, the children have to like each other. Two, they must be able to converse with adults. “If you can have adult conversations, the world opens up to you,” Steve emphasizes. “There is a clear difference between children who can and cannot do that.”
The family has a strong relationship with Temple Emanu-El in central Tucson. Both children became b’nai mitzvah there, and the couple fondly remembers their involvement with many young families during their time in religious school. The family still maintains their membership.
Asked if Judaism plays a role in their medical practice, Steve and Cindy agree that “It doesn’t influence how we practice medicine.” After pausing, though, Cindy shares her OB/GYN perspective. “Sometimes patients need you to connect on a level of faith and understanding,” she says. “Loss sometimes provokes that.”
Judaism permeated the couple’s young adulthood, a tradition they’ve emphasized to their own children. The couple was very active in BBYO youth group activities in high school. Cindy was president of her BBYO chapter in Phoenix, and Steve was both a camp counselor and a participant in Mitzvah Corps in Prescott. Cindy’s participation enabled her to travel to Israel for a six-week trip, which included an opportunity to work on a kibbutz.
Although the Goldbergs don’t pressure their children’s Jewish involvement one way or another, they’ve attempted to structure their family time around the “unwritten traditions,” Cindy says. They host all four grandparents for seder and break-the-fast. They’ve supported their children’s involvement in B’nai Tzedek, a Tucson teen philanthropy initiative, and the Maccabi Games. Rachel participated as a tennis delegate, Josh as a basketball delegate. Josh’s participation took him to Israel for the quadrennial Maccabiah games one year.
A particular favorite ongoing Tucson event for the Goldbergs is the annual Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Connections event. Cindy expresses how joyful and comforting it is to experience multigenerational participation in a Jewish way during the events. “It is so moving to feel the power of community.”
The couple has seen Jewish Tucson change during their years here. “There are more congregations to choose from,” Cindy says. “Individual congregations have really diversified because of all the growth and change.”
Looking forward, the Goldbergs intend to remain in Southern Arizona, fostering strong family ties between their children and their two sets of living parents. Now that Rachel attends ASU, she’s able to develop her own relationships with her grandparents as an adult, something Cindy absolutely relishes. “It is so cool to have lunch alone with Grandma, and (that’s) something neither Steve nor I ever got to experience as a young adult,” she says with a smile and shake of the head. “Having four grandparents is such a gift,” Cindy says. “And we want them to remember them.”
Steve plans to continue his cycling, Cindy plans to continue to run. Although their weekly family dinner schedule will change, they plan to embrace the new. Southern Arizona is home for them. “Truly,” Steve says, “Tucson and Phoenix provide our families with the ability to connect.”
