COM Outlook - Winter 2016

38 Nova Southeastern University For others, however, the key to fruitful coupledom is found in a personal and professional merger that allows each partner to intertwine career interests and spend an optimal amount of time together in both the home and office environments. Two individuals who epitomize the latter scenario are 2009 alumna Tiffany Sizemore-Ruiz, D.O., and 2007 alumnus Camilo Ruiz, D.O., FACOI, who have been married since 2011 and own and operate a general internal medicine practice in Fort Lauderdale called Choice Physicians of South Florida. According to Sizemore-Ruiz, who met her life and work partner in 2009 when they were in different stages of completing their internal medicine residency training at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, the decision to work together seemed practically preordained. “On almost a daily basis, someone says to me, ‘How do you do it? How do you work with your husband every day?’ ” she said. “But the truth is it just comes naturally. We met and worked together every day in our residency program, so it’s all we know. It’s not rainbows and butterflies all the time, but we work really well together in business and in marriage.” Convergent Paths to NSU Although they did not know each other while they were NSU-COM students—Sizemore-Ruiz was a first-year student when Ruiz was already doing his clinical rotations as a third-year student—they already shared an unwitting connection, as they were both raised in Florida. Sizemore-Ruiz, who grew up in Fort Pierce, credits her parents for always stressing the importance of education. “My mother used to say, ‘People can take anything away from you—your house, your car. But no one can ever take your education away from you.’ Those words always stuck with me,” she said. As she progressed through high school, Sizemore-Ruiz worked as a pharmacy technician at a retail store as well as at a hospital, making IV chemotherapy infusions and IV antibiotics. “During this time, I was pretty certain that I wanted to be a pharmacist,” she explained. “One day, however, a close friend of mine, who was a pharmacist, told me to consider medical school over pharmacy school because I was ‘good with people and could make a huge difference.’ I began volunteering in the emergency depart- ment at a local hospital and fell in love with medicine— and my patients.” Ruiz, who was born in Miami and spent his early teenage years living in Colombia, said he possessed an innate love of science and math that was nurtured by several mentors throughout his childhood. His desire to pursue a career in medicine, however, was triggered by the death of his father, who unexpectedly succumbed to cancer at a fairly young age. “Medicine is the only profession that combines scholarly pursuits and the opportunity to improve upon the human condition,” he said. “It’s this applied science that, I believe, attracts many people to our noble profession. I also think my interest in medicine and desire to become a doctor were due to my genuine love of understanding how things worked.” Sizemore-Ruiz, who graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from Florida Atlantic University at the age of 19, based her decision to attend NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine on several factors, including her desire to remain close to home. “When I began medical school, I was only 19,” she said. “I had never lived outside of South Florida and did not believe I was ready to do so. I wanted to be close to my family and friends, as they were my backbone of support. “The other reason I was drawn to NSU-COM was the im- mediate patient-care experiences it provides from day one,” added Sizemore-Ruiz, who is the youngest graduate in the Dynamic D.O.s (cont.)