Heritage College Love Stories
Over the 50-year history of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, many students have found more than just a great education while in school–they also found love. Two of the earliest couples to find love at the Heritage College answered our questions about their love story.
Schechtman & Tuber
Joy Schechtman, D.O. (’80) and Jack Tuber, D.O. (’81), met during convocation in 1977. In August 1979, they married in Cincinnati as fourth-year (Schechtman) and third-year (Tuber) medical students. They have two sons, Louis and Michael. They live in Arizona, where Schechtman practices as a rheumatologist and Tuber practices as a pulmonologist.
Q: How did the two of you meet?
A: We had been paired together to give a tour through the building (Grosvenor Hall) for dignitaries from the Ohio Legislature and others. That was in the fall of 1977, just before classes began for that school year. Joy had just transferred to OU after one year at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, and I was beginning my first year of med school, having completed a year of grad school at OU. We still joke about it to this day that the two of us were giving a tour of a building we knew nothing about...."and behind this door is...a closet!"
Q: Who was interested first?
A: Jack was. Jack mentioned to his classmate, Kort, early in his first year that he was going to ask me out.
Q: What did you do for your first date?
A: Fran Sterling, from my class, and Joy were roommates, so I thought I'd go over to their apartment to see what Fran was up to as an excuse to see what Joy was up to. Fran had already gone out, so I asked Joy what she wanted to do. We ended up at a movie and then had a drink afterward.
Q: What do you remember about dating in medical school?
A: Since we were separated half the time we were in med school because of the one-year difference, there was some stress in traveling from Athens to Columbus or Columbus to Dayton. But it was also a stability in our lives, knowing we had each other's backs. We were together most weekends when in separate cities and most of the time when in the same city.
Q: What has been the biggest joy and struggle of sharing a profession with your spouse?
A: Biggest joy–knowing what the other is going through at any given time. That is very comforting. There was no "you don't know what I'm going through" in our lives. The biggest struggle, even to this day, is finding time to spend with each other.
Q: What does the Heritage College mean to the two of you?
A: It's where it began for us. We owe our successes to those humble beginnings when the students sat on the floor because the desks had not yet arrived; bundled in winter coats because the heaters had not yet been installed and taking notes from a roll-in chalk board because the permanent wall boards had not yet arrived. The joke back then was "it's still on the truck." We are so grateful for the opportunity that was given to us and try to give back to the next generations of doctors as best we can, which led to our setting up a scholarship for medical students.
Q: Is there anything specific you'd like to say about your HCOM love story?
A: We would do it all again!!!
The Sanders
Kimberly and Craig Sanders met during orientation in 1993. They married in June 1996, right after Craig graduated and while Kim was going into her final year of medical school. They have two sons, DJ and Brennan. They live in Kentucky, where Craig practices as a family physician and Kim practices as an employee primary care provider for Premise Health .
Q: How did the two of you meet?
A: We met when Kim started at OU-HCOM in 1993. Craig was part of the orientation team that helped navigate the new students. He was helping out in the gross anatomy lab, and Kim–having no spatial orientation–really needed some help!
Q: Who was interested first?
A: I guess we were both interested, but it took my (Kim) friends to leave me at the Junction bar on a Saturday night. After talking to Craig at length, he did not want me to walk home on my own.
Q: What did you do for your first date?
A: We went to dinner somewhere uptown in Athens and then he took me back to his place and played the Richard Marx song “Right Here Waiting for You” on his keyboard, which then became our wedding song three years later!
Q: What do you remember about dating in medical school?
A: Dating in Athens was pretty much taking walks, eating uptown, getting the Late Night Pizza and some golf, because all we did was study! We did go home some weekends to go out in Cincinnati. Craig and I each have different strengths in our medical knowledge base, and it was so helpful to have that support.
Q: Do you have a favorite memory from that time in your life?
A: I guess experiencing Halloween weekend at OU for the first time was a favorite memory. That was like Mardi Gras in Athens! We loved the fond memories of studying with our friends and training in the hospitals with them and living out the Greys Anatomy show in our very own lives. Our engagement was a favorite memory for sure. On Feb. 18, 1995, we went on a hospital ski trip to Holiday Valley ski resort in Ellicottville, NY. I had never skied before in my life. Truth be told, I hated it and just wanted to go back to the ski lodge, but all our friends made me go up one more challenging hill. Everyone knew but me that Craig was going to give me an engagement ring and ask me to marry him on that high mountaintop hill. I am surprised he still asked me because I was very cranky that day. Obviously, I said yes, but then the problem was getting back down that crazy hill! Our friend Jody from Montana, whose husband Scott was in Craig’s class, skied probably before she walked, so she volunteered to help me down. Unfortunately, that went sour and we crashed, and she partially tore a ligament in her knee. I felt horrible, but she forgave me and Jody and Scott were at our wedding the following year on June 15, 1996!
Q: What has been the biggest joy and struggle of sharing a profession with your spouse?
A: The biggest joy of sharing a profession with your spouse is that you understand the ups and downs of our profession and can have true empathy for each other. We talk at least once every day about patients and toss ideas to each other to help each other out. Craig and I have always been a team when it came to the kids and the household chores. I think that we were also blessed to have great role models in our parents. We watched a lot of our friends and colleagues in failed relationships and noticed the majority of the couples were not in the same field of work. However, when it is all said and done, I believe that the true reason we are still married 30 years later is that Christ is in the center of our marriage. We are practicing Catholics, and we pray every day to have God guide us and use us for his glory with every patient that he places in our office. We try to surround ourselves with positivity and share our joy with others. We always tell young couples to never put their children in front of their own relationship because when the children are gone, they are left with each other, so they need to keep cultivating their spousal relationship.
Q: What does the Heritage College mean to the two of you?
A: When we applied to medical schools in the early nineties, the osteopathic profession was not as widely known as it is today. Neither one of us knew any osteopathic physicians as mentors, and in the beginning of practicing, we would have patients ask what the D.O. meant after our name. After 27 years of practice, we would not trade the uniqueness of our osteopathic profession for any other profession and if given the choice again between allopathic and osteopathic medicine we would choose osteopathic every time. We are proud of that D.O. behind our name. Craig regularly precepts medical students in his office, and I have also enjoyed precepting students over the years. I always remember our mentors telling us the adage, see one, do one, teach one. We remember ourselves in those students and we try to be real people with them and very transparent about our profession. One tradition we have appreciated with our preceptors is that we take each student out for a very nice dinner at the end of their rotation and we try to give them life advice in addition to career advice.
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