Two Sisters in Medicine: Two Roads Less Traveled, One Goal By Chinwe Anyanwu and Nneka Anyanwu

Two Sisters in Medicine:

Two Roads Less Traveled, One Goal

By Chinwe Anyanwu and Nneka Anyanwu

Student doctors Chinwe and Nneka Anyanwu aren’t just sisters in medicine. They also happen to be sisters in real life! These two sisters born to Nigerian parents, sometimes referred to by family as, “The Sisters,” because you never see one without the other, took two very different roads to medicine with one same goal in mind: diversifying medicine.

Nneka, the older sister by 4 years, fought tirelessly to get into medical school and the road was anything but easy. After being diagnosed with scoliosis as a young girl and having spinal surgery to place rods at the age of 10, her ties to medicine were sealed tighter than a jar of pickles. Learning later in life the medical error that occurred during her surgery, in which adult rods were placed instead of the appropriate growing rods for children, she had spinal reconstructive surgery her senior year of high school. She wheeled across the stage at her high school graduation in a wheelchair to claim her diploma as if it was her birthright and wheeled herself straight into college at Prairie View A&M University in that same chair. She then went on to complete two master’s degrees. Her experiences meticulously fashioned her passion for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She learned then, she had a strength that few had, and it was that same strength that would carry her through her journey in medicine, and apparently right alongside her little sister.

Chinwe had a very different path. Never interested by just one thing, she never actually planned to go to college. After high school, she was set on moving to New York to be a creative and fashion designer. Just as many Nigerian parents would feel though, her parents actively discouraged the naïve idea of being a struggling artist in a place she’d never lived, and of course nudged her into going to college to at least have a “backup plan.” Little did she know that this nudge to college would bring a wind of events strong enough to skid a freight truck and propel her into the field of medicine. Returning home for the first time after her first semester of college to find out her brother passed away from a seizure helped scope much more of her future career than she realized. Sitting there as EMS attempted to save his life and not knowing what to do in that moment to help the one person she admittedly loved most, manifested itself as a deep love for the field of emergency medicine. She then went on to work as an ED medical scribe for the next four years and obtained her Master’s in Epidemiology.

In 2018, both Chinwe and Nneka were accepted into medical school at University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM) and Meharry Medical College, respectively, and collectively have received over $140,000 in scholarships. Obviously, one sister chose DO, while the other set on pursing an MD. Two very different roads, though admittedly one even less traveled than the other, but have these roads really been so different?

As they talk about their medical school experience, there are many similarities, such as both being part of relatively new programs. Nneka’s class had rolled out a new curriculum, so it felt like going to a new program full of lots of trial and error. As many know, UIWSOM is literally a brand-new medical school, with its first class graduating this year and is all too familiar with the trials and errors of a new pro-

gram. Both have also entered schools that focus heavily on primary care, with missions that include in part, advancing health equity through service, cultural competency, education and leadership.

As an osteopathic medical student, Chinwe has been able to develop an appreciation for the research opportunities, resources and exposures to numerous subspecialties that her sister has had at her MD program. As someone who chose to take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) licensing exams, she has been able to use aspects of her sister’s curriculum and resources to better prepare for USMLE, since her school has a sole focus on COMLEX. She has been able to use information and skills from both of their experiences to carve out her own path to success and develop ways to bridge the gap between MD and DO training. She has learned that both have an important role to play in the field of medicine.

Along with the rigorous curriculum of medical school, Nneka also deals with chronic back/neck pain attributed to her multiple spinal surgeries. Medical school only intensified her pain due to the extensive study hours and workdays. Having her sister perform an Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) on her during the holidays, teach her new techniques to use on herself and watching her sister practice has broadened her view of the tools available to treat patients and has been of particular interest as someone going into the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R). Though the additional exam and classroom hours are not the most attractive to someone choosing the field of DO, she has developed a deep appreciation for the skillsets her sister has learned, and these skills have even helped her at times with her pain through medical school. In retrospect, DO may have been a good fit for her specialty interest, however, she is a true believer that everything happens for a reason. She would not have had the opportunity to go through medical school with one of the people she loves most in this world: her little sister. For her, that has honestly been the best blessing throughout her medical school experience.

MD or DO, medical school is medical school, and it is to say the least, hard. So, though these sisters have taken very different paths to medicine, it is the similarities that strengthen their bond and have placed them in a position to be each other’s helping and healing hand. Two very different roads, though admittedly one even less traveled than the other, but have these roads really been so different?

Chinwe Anyanwu is a rising OMS-IV at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine. Nneka Anyanwu is a rising OMS-IV at Meharry Medical College.