 |
| RUSM Class of 2006 graduates Ixsy Ramirez (above, right) and Jason Lester (left) met while at medical school together. Now, they're married with two children! |
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, two Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) alumni recently shared their romantic story. They met as medical students on the Dominica campus, dated, got engaged, graduated in 2006, went through the Couples Match, got married, and have lived happily ever after for the past almost 10 years.
Ixsy Ramirez, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist affiliated with University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, and Jason Lester, MD, attending physician, Department of Emergency Medicine and Assistant Medical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine at Mercy St. Charles Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, are the proud parents of two children. They have returned to Dominica twice since completing their Basic Science studies; in May 2013 when she was the White Coat speaker, and in January 2016, when he gave the White Coat keynote address.
“We didn’t hit it off initially,” she recalled. But they were class presidents of their respective classes (he had started a semester before she did) and so they saw each other at Student Government Association activities. “We kept running into each other, talking. I think we grabbed dinner at one of the local restaurants,” she related. “It just happened.”
“The courtship was more historically traditional,” he said. “I’d pick her up, we’d go out to eat, and I’d walk her back to her apartment. The tropical island was a romantic setting.” They also spent time studying together.
Dr. Ramirez said that she went to medical school thinking that she was going to focus totally on her studies. “I didn’t want anything to get in the way,” she explained. Dr. Lester’s perspective was, “You have to live your life. There’s never a good time.”
Going through the Couples Match taught them a lot about compromising, they said. After all, they were interested in different fields, and were from different areas of the country; he was from Los Angeles and she was from Michigan. The process of applying for the Match, “opened up our communications,” she said. “We knew we’d be happy as long as we ended up somewhere together.”
Other Articles About Our Grads That You Might Like
RESIDENCIES: These Couples Got the Ultimate Match