IT TAKES TWO
The Doctors Are In … Love
by LAILA AGRAWAL , MD & ARPIT AGRAWAL , MD
It seemed as though a spotlight was shining on her with the wind blowing through her hair as she walked into the suite . It was the spring of 2002 , their sophomore year at Washington University in St . Louis . Arpit had found the one ; he just had to convince Laila that he was the one .
It took a change in majors – both to biomedical engineering , a cameo in the school ’ s Diwali cultural program , countless hours in engineering and pre-med classes and long meandering walks to convince her . But she eventually came around and we knew we wanted to be together after we graduated .
The problem was that we had both been accepted to medical school … in different states .
Arpit attended the University of Louisville , and Laila attended
Indiana University for medical school .
Soon , being able to see each other daily in college turned into rarely being together . We spent hours on the phone , as Laila quizzed and often corrected Arpit about the different things we had learned in class during the week . On the weekends when we didn ’ t have to study , we would drive up and down I-65 to visit each other .
Though difficult , long-distance dating for those four grueling years strengthened our relationship and culminated in the magical moment on Match Day when we had found that we had couplematched into internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St . Louis , back where our love had first blossomed .
Although some remember residency as one of the toughest parts of their medical careers , we cherish those days of being back in the same city , learning medicine , finding passion for our respective subspecialties and making some of our closest friends .
While it may have taken longer than some of us ( Laila ) had anticipated , we were eventually married at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville in a big Indian wedding . Arpit rode down Fourth Street
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