Family is important to Dr. Paul Fine.

Nestled within a cozy corner of the labyrinthine Taubman Health Care Center, pictures of family and friends smile down from frames dotting every surface of his office. Besides loving his own family, he loves being a doctor of internal medicine and seeing patients over the course of their lives.

“I’m a primary care doctor. I have patients that I’ve seen for 20, 25 years. It’s like friends coming to visit,” Fine said.

Fine, associate professor of internal medicine in the Medical School, knew he wanted to be a doctor from the very beginning. He grew up watching his father practice medicine, and he especially admired how his father’s work made a difference in his patients’ lives.

After graduating from Harvard, Fine attended U-M Medical School, despite growing up in Ohio and still holding athletic allegiance to the Buckeyes. He became chief medical resident in June 1992 and worked his way up to clinical associate professor.

As a clinician, he performs both outpatient and inpatient work and precepts a resident clinic. As a professor, he enjoys teaching first- and second-year students along with running an internal medicine seminar for third-year students and a clinical refresher program for students re-entering school after a leave of absence.

“It’s always nice to get that feedback, when you can tell that students understand something that wasn’t well understood before. It’s sort of a magical moment,” he said.

In addition to his professional duties, Fine is a seasoned musical composer and pianist. He has composed nine CDs of completely original music. The most recent — “Sound Bites” — was released in early September.

He began playing piano when he was 5 years old. From there, his passion only grew, and he casually began composing music one year later. He describes his music as “Romantic classical” in style, with some ragtime, pop and jazz pieces included, as well. Many of his instrumental pieces were composed for specific people or occasions, sometimes celebrating a wedding or birth, sometimes offered as consolation for those facing illness or the loss of a loved one.

He enjoys writing lyrics, as well. In one especially sentimental song, written when his children were quite young, he sings about how each of them is special, and asks them as a Father’s Day gift to promise never to get older.  He notes that his children, who elected not to give him what he asked for, took piano lessons themselves and have joined him in performing periodically for nursing home residents.

Fine enjoys sharing his music with family and friends and giving copies to interested patients. He believes that music can be soothing and relaxing, even therapeutic, and that perhaps receiving it from one’s doctor might make it more meaningful. The positive feedback has overwhelmed him and he believes that the music had often added a new dimension to the doctor-patient relationship.

“I’ve had some breathtaking, tear-inducing letters from patients years after the fact about the impact some of the music has had. It humbled me beyond measure,” he said.

Q&A

What moment in the classroom stands out as the most memorable?

No one single moment, actually, but the sublime occasions when it’s not students listening to a lecturer, but all of us interacting together.

What can’t you live without?

Music and laughter. Oh, and macaroni and cheese, of course.

Where is your favorite spot on campus?

Hill Auditorium.

What inspires you?

Kindness.

What are you currently reading?

“Justice,” by Michael Sandel.

Who had the biggest/greatest influence on your career path?

My father, a physician himself, provided a wonderful example and taught me how to teach. He and my mother greatly encouraged and supported my various academic (and musical) endeavors.

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• Faculty Spotlight