Partners in Life and Anesthesia: Drs. Atsuko Baba and Jim Brandes

Did you know we have a few married couples within the UCSF Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care? We caught up with one of them, Drs. Atsuko Baba and Jim Brandes, to hear how they met, how they’ve balanced family and demanding careers, and what it’s like to call each other colleagues.

Atsuko Baba, MD, is a pediatric anesthesiologist, the Mission Bay Peds Triad member for Anesthesia, and the medical director for Cross Bay Prepare. Jim Brandes, MD, MBA, MLS is an adult clinical anesthesiologist who works across several UCSF sites, including Mission Bay, Bayfront, Mount Zion, and Parnassus. Both also serve as mentors to new faculty and trainees.

While Dr. Baba has spent her entire career in the UCSF Department of Anesthesia, Dr. Brandes completed his residency and began his career at UCSF as faculty before transitioning to private practice for 16 years. He returned to UCSF in 2022.

“We met 24 years ago at the scrub sink outside of OR21,” Dr. Baba recalled.

“I was an attending and Jim was a resident, so a relationship was probably against the rules.”

Asked how they navigated the challenges of a workplace romance, they laughed.

“We got married!” Dr. Brandes said. “There was no rule on marriage. We had both been married before, and when you know, you know.”

Nine weeks after meeting, during the weekend between Dr. Brandes’s CA-2 and CA-3 resident years, the couple drove to Las Vegas and tied the knot. Twenty-four years later, they are colleagues within the same department once again.

Because Dr. Baba is in pediatrics, and Dr. Brandes primarily works with adults, their professional paths don’t cross often. Still, they find opportunities to connect. “I like to be at Mission Bay because I can go say hi to her,” Dr. Brandes said. “I go over to the pedi bunker frequently to say hello – and they have a Nespresso machine, too, so I can get some coffee.”

Before Mission Bay was opened, there were more opportunities for their work to overlap. The pediatric ORs were located alongside the adult ORs at Parnassus, and their professional worlds intersected more frequently. Today, Dr. Brandes credits his wife with helping him get to know many of the pediatric faculty, while Dr. Baba’s long tenure at UCSF means she knows faculty across specialties–many of whom she helped train.

Each Other’s Sounding Board

So how do two anesthesiologists transition from colleagues to spouses at the end of the day? As it turns out, they don’t always leave work at work.

“We talk about work constantly,” Dr. Brandes said. “We’re each other’s sounding board.”

They see their shared profession as an advantage. Because each understands the realities of each other’s work, they can help one another after difficult days and offer perspective on everything from emergencies to leadership opportunities.

That mutual confidence has been there from the beginning.

Dr. Brandes recalled being a third-year resident when Dr. Baba asked him to pick up a pediatric cardiac patient and bring the child to the OR. Feeling he didn’t have enough information about the case, he rushed to review the baby’s chart and found himself stressed by the responsibility. Dr. Baba, meanwhile, knew he could handle it. “I think she had more confidence in my abilities than I did,” he said.

Their paths still occasionally cross during emergency cases. “That’s always nice,” Dr. Brandes said. “We can look over at each other and nod at one another and know we’re okay.”

When asked what advice they would give other couples working in the same field, both enthusiastically recommended the experience.

“It’s important to work with someone that you really trust,” they said. “You have to pick the right person to be with–in work and life.”

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Balancing Family and Careers

That partnership was especially important while raising their three children and maintaining two full-time careers in anesthesiology.

When their children were young, Dr. Brandes moved into private practice in Marin, where the family lived. The arrangement allowed him to take afternoons off for school pickups and extracurricular activities. Dr. Baba’s mother also moved nearby to help care for the children.

“She was the linchpin in terms of us being able to keep working full-time,” Dr. Brandes said.

Together, they made it work—but, as they put it, “it took a lot of planning and thoughtfulness to make it all happen.”

Back Where it All Started

After reflecting on the past, the couple turned to what lies ahead.

“I’ve really enjoyed coming back into the fold at UCSF,” Dr. Brandes said. “It’s a lot more social than being in a private practice setting, where you’re often just in a room by yourself and not really interacting with your colleagues.”

He also rediscovered something he had missed in private practice: teaching. Mentorship and education are now meaningful parts of the work for both Dr. Brandes and Dr. Baba.

After more than two decades together, their story has come full circle—from a chance meeting at a UCSF scrub sink, to raising a family and building two careers, to working once again within the same department.

And they don’t plan to leave anytime soon. “We want to stay at UC until we retire,” Dr. Baba said.