Wendy Hill, MD
Balancing an active family life and rewarding career

Don't call Wendy Hill, MD, a superwoman. She says she's no different from all the other working parents she knows who are trying to balance a challenging career and life away from work. For Hill, it's all about finding the right job and blending it with her active family and outside interests.

Hill is a hospitalist and director of the Hospitalist Program at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Neenah, Wis. In this role, she specializes in taking care of kids
who are hospitalized. It's a fairly new – and growing – specialty.

Hill, a native of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., earned her bachelor's degree from Lawrence University and attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served as chief resident at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, then practiced medicine in a Milwaukee suburb before moving to the Fox Valley nine years ago. She worked three years for another health care system in Neenah before joining Children's Fox Valley staff in 2002.

Hill manages her staff and patients while also enjoying a full – make that really full – family life. She and her husband, Steve Jung, have four children ranging in age from 9 to 2. Her husband teaches chemistry and coaches football at Appleton East High School.

Hill is one busy woman. But somehow, she makes all the pieces of her life mesh smoothly. She credits her success to Children's Hospital, her own passion for medicine, a support system of great friends and family members, and regular exercise to de-stress and stay healthy.

"It's important for me to balance things because I love what I do," Hill said. "I've always liked taking care of hospital patients. The higher acuity is really interesting to me. Plus, you really get to know the patients and families because the time they spend at the hospital can be very intense. As a hospitalist, you become very enmeshed with the families."

Hill's home life has affected her as a physician, she explained. "I think anyone
who has kids practices differently," she said. "Not that there aren't non-parent pediatricians who are outstanding, because there are. But I think you definitely look at things differently." Likewise, treating sick kids "puts things in perspective" for Hill. "This profession ensures that you never take the health of your own kids for granted," she stressed.

At Children's Hospital, Hill's co-workers provide support and inspiration every day. "I'm fortunate to work with really good people who have a goal of doing the very best they can for kids" she said.

When she's not at the hospital, parenting her own kids or cheering for Appleton East's football team, Hill is training for triathlons. "I feel better, and my mind-set is so much better when I exercise," she said. Her active children also keep her on the move.

Job. Family. Health. They all are important to Hill and keep her running in every sense of the word. A commitment to kids is the common thread that holds everything
together. "I have a job where I feel like I'm making a difference," she said. "That means a lot to me."