Growing up, three years separated Sarah and Ryan Khalil in age and, like any brother and sister, they didn’t always get along.
“Sarah,” Ryan recalls now with a smile, “was mean to me a lot.
Now, as the siblings pursue their ϲʿ degrees together at WMed, things couldn’t be more different as they help each other navigate the rigors and demands of medical school and, they say jokingly, build a “Khalil dynasty.”
“We’re a cool dynasty,” Sarah said. “The dream team.”
Sarah, 25, came to WMed two years ago as a member of the Class of 2019 and, in July, Ryan, 22, entered his first year of medical school with the Class of 2021. The duo took similar paths to get to Kalamazoo, both completing their undergraduate degrees – chemistry and physics, respectively – at Loyola University Chicago.
They grew up in the Chicago suburbs in what Sarah affectionately refers to as “a nerdy house.” Both of their parents have backgrounds in science and several other relatives are engineers and scientists. They have a 12-year-old sister who wants to be a writer.
“We both really like people,” Sarah said recently of her and Ryan’s decision to pursue their dreams of becoming doctors. “We like talking to people and getting to know people. I like fixing people’s wrongs and taking care of people. It’s something that we’re really privileged to be a part of.”
Sarah decided midway through her time at Loyola University that she wanted to go to medical school. She said she loves science and medicine and thinking about how to solve problems. But now, even more, she said she has come to deeply value the relationships with patients, getting to know them and providing care that results in significant improvement.
When she entered WMed in 2015, Sarah said she had no idea what specialty she would pursue in residency. Now, however, she has her eye on a surgery residency.
“You get to see the problem and can immediately go and fix it and I like working with my hands,” Sarah said.
Ryan’s draw to medical school, he said, came from his experiences as a patient and his appreciation of a physician’s ability to understand the science that provides the foundation for medicine and their ability to fix problems and help patients.
Two months in to medical school, Ryan said he doesn’t know yet what he wants to pursue in residency when he graduates in 2021.
“I have no clue,” Ryan said. “Sarah texts me, ‘I think you could do this or that.’ At this point, it’s not something I’m worried about.”
Ryan said his decision to attend WMed came easily for him given the conversations he had with his sister and the feedback she would give him about the medical school. He said he also was intrigued by the chance to be a member of one of WMed’s first four ϲʿ classes and help shape the future of the institution.
“The medical students here are supportive of each other,” Ryan said. “What finally helped me make the decision (to attend WMed) were all of the things I heard from Sarah.”
Sarah jokes with Ryan that by following her to medical school, he is “living in my shadow.”
Ryan, for his part, doesn’t mind.
“It’s nice and shady,” he said recently with a smile.
Sarah and Ryan said coming to WMed has proven beneficial, as well, because of its close proximity to Chicago. Their family, they said, is close-knit and their parents don’t complain that two of their three children are living in the same city just three hours from the Windy City.
Ryan said he appreciates that as he navigates his first year of medical school that he will have his sister for support and as a sounding board as he encounters the challenges that are sure to come his way.
Sarah agreed.
“We’re working hard and loving it,” she said. “We’re happy what we’re doing and that’s the most important thing … I think as Ryan gets deep into medical school it will be nice that he can vent to me and I will know exactly what’s going on. People on the outside don’t understand how taxing it can be sometimes.”