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WHEN DOCTORS
SAY ‘I DO’

Photo courtesy Jeffrey Meffert, MD, and Paula Lyons, MD

‘I would never marry another doctor!’

By Paula Lyons, MD, and Jeffrey Meffert, MD

We met in anatomy lab (tanks No. 19 and No. 21) and liked posed to whom but it was likely on a Volksmarsch where one of
each other well enough, but it was the long trips to and from Flo- us said, “I guess we need to get married before the match,” and
resville when paired together for the “Psychosocial Aspects of the other said, “I guess so.”
Healthcare” where we got to know each other well enough to agree
that to get involved with another physician would be really stupid. FIRST BIG DECISION
The first big couples’ decision was Jeff deciding to apply for a
Surely the complexities and sacrifices needed in a two-profession
household would be far too much to make it work. We enjoyed family practice residency instead of transitional internship. In the
each other’s company enough that we got over that and decided residency match now, couples may designate one of the applicants
the only way the U.S. Air Force would keep us together after med- as the “first priority,” after which the other applicant will be
ical school would be if we were married. It isn’t clear now who pro- matched according to the results of the first. This is especially im-

14 San Antonio Medicine • June 2015