Laughs, music, love and ... vegetables Renée Rodriguez Paro, MD’10, and John Paro, MD’10

MARRIED SINCE | 2011, in Bond Chapel

A “catty” opening line: Renée moved away from her close-knit family in Arizona to attend Pritzker and, for comfort, brought along her two pet kittens. Their photo was her laptop’s screensaver. On the first day of class, Renée opened her laptop to take notes. John, sitting behind her, tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Can we have a party when your cats die?” Renée turned around and stared at him in disbelief.

“It was so absurd, I said, ‘Who is this guy?’” she recalled. Realizing he was joking (and that he is allergic to cats), they laughed and a friendship began.

Speed-dating sparks: John and Renée were co-social chairs of REMEDY, a group that collects unused medical supplies and delivers them on medical mission trips. As a REMEDY fundraiser their first year, they organized a speed-dating event for all UChicago graduate students. It was a huge success; about 200 people attended. As they worked that night, John, who had broken up with his girlfriend two months earlier, started seeing his good friend Renée in a new light. “All of a sudden, things felt like a different level than friendship,” John said.

Helping hobbyists: Renée and John love how Pritzker emphasizes that students take time for pursuits outside medicine, so they created (and fund) a Happiness & Hobbies microgrant.

Every year, Pritzker students submit applications with a short explanation of how the grant can help them pursue their hobbies, and the Paros award three or four $500 grants each year. Recipients have included musicians, gardeners, artists and someone who liked to repair bikes.

Looking back fondly: Pritzker classes were rigorous, but John and Renée both say they have so many happy, fun memories of their years there and remain close to many classmates.

“Pritzker does such a good job of bringing together people who are different and interesting and smart. Not just the people with the highest scores on every test. People who do interesting things and are good and kind people. You know they’re going to be good doctors because they’re well-rounded people,” Renée said. “We look back at it as this magical time when we fell in love and found our best friends.”

Where they work now: Both work for the private, multispecialty group practice Palo Alto Medical Foundation. (Renée is a pediatric cardiologist; John is a plastic surgeon.) They have several side projects, including Dr. Vegetable (doctorvegetable.org), an engaging program for children about healthy eating; the “Reconciling Medicine” podcast by “The Doctors Paro,” about navigating life working in the medical field; and John Paro’s original music and comedy parodies on Spotify, including several songs from his “Med School Rock” and “Residency Rock” albums, like “Cranial Nerves Are Sexxxy” and “Page Rage.”