She often comes to the waiting room to get the little ones. Other times she waits for them at the door, as if half distracted, so they don’t think this medical visit is too important.

She uses her coat as an accessory and does not make it an obstacle to the empathy she so naturally develops. In reality, she welcomes the little ones who take their toys to Paediatrics.

This is where Catarina always begins, listening to the heartbeats of teddy bears and rubber babies, and this is how she continues with the kids and so remains coherently to the end of each appointment. She never looks at her clock, never swaps a child’s name, she asks not very inquisitive questions to the parents and her eyes’ attention is always a little bit lower, over the little ones. In her appointments, the parents are not ignorant nor irresponsible, and the children are not fat nor too skinny, spoiled or bratty. Catarina is a Paediatrician at Estefânia Hospital and does private consultation at Clínica da Mãe e da Criança. In all fairness, she’s a physician who attends to children and their parents, as she understands that a happy child requires happy parents.

A Paediatrician for 12 years, Catarina Gouveia had strong role models. The apple did not fall far from the tree, with a Paediatrician mother and an Internist father. Following their footsteps, Catarina is a physician herself.

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Oldest daughter of one of two sisters who were born almost consecutively, Catarina was born in April 1973. At that time, her mother could only stay by her for the first 15 days of her life, as maternity leaves were an unknown privilege and her mother, Maria do Céu Machado, had to return to the emergency room where she was working 24 consecutive hours as a Paediatrician. Being a mother for the first time but wanting to strengthen her career, Maria do Céu, the professional caretaker of other people’s children, delegated to her own mother Zi and to the maid that had helped raise her, the task of caring for Catarina.

Catarina did not put the blame on Paediatrics nor Medicine, that much is true, because when the time came to apply to University, she chose the same school her mother had, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon.

Even if the choice of studies was the right one in Catarina’s mind, her admission was not so assured, she thought. There were admission interviews back when she applied to the Faculty. The idea had been brought by João Lobo Antunes, from the times he lived in the USA. The Professor was also the President of the Scientific Board at FMUL and required each applicant to present a project to be later discussed in an interview. He believed that a student should not be admitted solely on the basis of his or her average school scores, but for gathering a set of characteristics that made the student stand out as having the right profile to become a physician. Catarina presented her project and defended it at its presentation. Her mother, protective until the end, lets us know that Catarina “ was younger than eighteen years old and felt intimidated at the interview”. She thought she would not be selected, but she was terribly wrong.

After 6 years of a degree and 6 of a specialisation, the daughter of the Paediatrician was now a Paediatrician herself, without inheritances nor privileged contacts.

Currently working in the field of infectiology, with special interest in medical bacteriology and mycology, she also dedicates herself to Traveller’s Medicine. It was her microbiology Masters at the Molecular Medicine Institute in 2010, centred on the invasive disease due to S. aureus at paediatric age, that determined the way she sees infectiology. Osteoarticular infections and multi-resistant bacteria deserve a special attention from her, as she explains that “multi-resistance is a severe and emerging problem, for which we have few therapeutic alternatives”.

Maria do Céu Machado with all the grandchildren

Mother of 3 children aged 17, 15 and 10, she tells me that none of them seems to want to follow her footsteps, as they look more towards maths, a path that their mother fully supports!

This is how I met Catarina, as a Paediatrician only. But in the month where the Faculty said goodbye to Maria do Céu Machado in a final lesson, I asked whether she’d allow me to speak of Catarina, the apple that did not fall far from the tree.

She granted my wish.

On the day of her last lesson, mother and daughter first met in the bathroom. The mother had just retouched her make-up, the daughter had just arrived. “Good morning, Maria do Céu”, she said promptly and smiling. Few words were exchanged, but they remained close, from beginning to end.

Since her times as a student, Catarina Gouveia has always made it clear she wanted to be respected for herself and not for the genetic code she carries, but we talk about it today because it helps explain who she is.

When you chose Medicine, were you already thinking of Paediatrics?

Catarina Gouveia: The choice of Medicine was a natural one, it grew on me, but only became really clear at the age of 16. The specialisation was harder, as I seemed to enjoy every field! The fields that appealed to me were Infectiology and Haematology. However, I was afraid of the specialisation and I opted for more comprehensive areas. Until the day of my choice, I told my parents that I wanted to be an Internist, but I ended up choosing Paediatrics, which made my mother happy. Children fascinate me!

Did your mother influence you or was it inevitable and nothing to do with genetics?

Catarina Gouveia: I grew up hearing stories of medicine, which certainly influenced my choice. Role models are important and genetics is also relevant. My sister has always hated our medicine-related conversations around the house, and that was indeed inevitable!

In your admission application, you never cared to mention that your parents were physicians. Was there a reason for this decision? Did you seldom mentioned them throughout your studies?

Catarina Gouveia: I like to keep my identity and I don’t like to expose my personal life. I never enjoyed being introduced as the daughter of… Nowadays, I can talk about myself and my parents as I’m a grown person and I have completed my own path.

Being the daughter of a Paediatrician who is a national reference in Healthcare, but also confident and socially interventional, does it intimidate or inspire you?

Catarina Gouveia: Both. It is intimidating because you’re always expecting more, and it is inspiring because you want to follow her example. I worked directly with my mother for a year at the Fernando Fonseca Hospital. I was completing my second year of internship. It was a strange experience, even more intimidating, as it was difficult to not being seen as the daughter of the boss and starting to be assessed as the intern Catarina. I never felt this pressure at Estefânia.

Did you often ask your mother for help? Or almost never to not show any frailty?

Catarina Gouveia: Many times. At the consultation office, we worked side by side for several years and we discuss patients frequently. Whenever I choose a path in Paediatrics, she is the first opinion I get. She manages like no one I’ve ever seen.

Will our mothers know best for all of our lives?

Catarina Gouveia: Humm!! Probably not! You know, in our family women have very strong personalities. We always think we know a lot and almost everything.

Does one need to be a parent to be a good Paediatrician?

Catarina Gouveia: It helped me a lot. I think it changes your perspective. But I know excellent paediatricians who don’t have children. We should not make a generalised assessment. One of my colleagues quit Paediatrics when she had a child. She told me she could no longer look at a sick child. She later opted for another specialisation. She was an excellent paediatrician.

What did you feel at the last class taught by Maria do Céu Machado who, incidentally, is also your mother?

Catarina Gouveia: Apprehension for the responsibility, and pride for the example and the quality.

Catarina with her mother and her sister Mariana

Joana Sousa

Editorial Team