Drs. Navin Kaini and William Cundiff have marked some significant milestones together over the years – they met during their residency programs and then completed their fellowships together at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Now they treat patients together at the HMH Pulmonary & Critical Care Specialists department in Elizabethtown.
But both pulmonary specialists agree that none of those milestones were as significant as when these two friends and colleagues became fathers for the first time within three days of each other earlier this year.
Both babies were born at HMH BirthPlace in February. Dr. Kaini’s daughter Ananya was born three days after Dr. Cundiff’s daughter, Madison and the two families were just a few rooms apart. The two friends like to jokingly compare their babies’ progress.
“(Dr. Cundiff) is a foot taller than I am, but my baby is bigger,” joked Dr. Kaini. “Seriously though, she really is wonderful – I just want to enjoy every moment.” Enjoyment can sometimes be replaced with exhaustion with the arrival of new babies but both doctors seem to be taking it in stride.
“It’s a pleasant type of fatigue,” said Dr. Cundiff. “It’s more joyously delusional.” Drs. Kaini and Cundiff met as 2nd year residents in 2010 and were fast friends by the time they found out at the end of 2013 they would both be working side by side in the Pulmonary/Critical Care program at Hardin Memorial Health.
Dr. Kaini obtained his medical degree in his home of Nepal and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Brown University-Warren Alpert School of Medicine/Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.
Dr. Cundiff graduated from LaRue County High School and attended University of Louisville and the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. Both doctors completed their fellowships at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and are board certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine.
For Dr. Cundiff, practicing at HMH is like a homecoming for the Hodgenville native who worked at HMH’s housekeeping before he entered medical school. He said he appreciates being able to practice medicine close to home. And now both men come home to their beautiful baby girls.
On behalf of HMH, we’d like to wish these two new papas and all dad’s out there a Happy Fathers Day!
