5 Years , 4 Cities , 3 Dogs , 2 People , 1 Love
by SUPRA PARTHASARATHY , MD & JOSH CHRISTENSEN , MD
It was 2006 and we randomly sat a few rows away from each other in the lecture hall . Josh eventually worked up the courage to ask Supra out for a date in the enchanting environment of the gross anatomy lab . After a night of three movies and talking until 5 a . m ., a connection was made . The rest , as they say , is history .
Supra grew up in Louisville ( since you ’ re wondering , it was Manual ), UofL for college and medical school , University Hospital Case Medical Center ( now UH Cleveland Medical Center ) for residency in anesthesiology , then Tufts Medical Center for a pediatric anesthesiology fellowship in Boston .
Where is Josh from ? He will say “ all over ” because he was born in a small farm town in Nebraska , was raised in the Cleveland , Ohio area ( Stow ) and finished high school in the suburbs of Detroit . He went to Miami of Ohio ( J . Crew U ) for college and after graduating worked as an orderly in the surgery department at Baptist East Hospital , before working as a medical assistant for Dr . Stacie Grossfeld .
24 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
He was ( finally ) accepted to medical school at ULSOM class of 2010 , graduating Summa Cum Laude , where we both met . Josh attended Mayo Clinic Rochester for orthopedic surgery residency and Santa Monica Orthopedic Group / Kerlan-Jobe Institute ( KJI ) for a sports medicine fellowship in Los Angeles .
As you can see , we ended up in residency , fellowship and work in completely different cities from 2010-2016 but stayed together for five and a half years in a long-distance relationship . This was mostly due to Josh ’ s hesitancy to participate in the couples ’ Match , and we eventually broke up at the beginning of fourth year . However , after spending a few months apart , it became clear that Josh couldn ’ t live without Supra and was ready to commit . After driving through the crazy snowstorm of 2011 in Chicago , he met Supra in Louisville at a mutual friend ’ s house to make sure that this feeling continued after seeing her in person again . His excitement to commit was not only maintained , but strengthened . He drove back to Rochester and immediately bought a plane ticket to Cleveland for the following weekend . Even though he was aware that Supra was currently dating someone else , his plan was to surprise propose to her . Armed with a plastic ring from a child ’ s birthday party set from Target and a lip balm ( her favorite ), he flew to Cleveland in his nicest suit . He rented a car and drove immediately to her house . After an awkward