NSU Horizons Fall 2017

10 NSU HORIZONS A Shared Vision of Giving THE PATELS Dr. Kiran C. Patel, M.D., first caught the eye of his future wife when he ran for class representa- tive during their first year of medical school in the city of Ahmedabad, India. Born of Indian parents, he grew up in Zambia in southern Africa, and was one of five students from Africa in the medical class of 100. “He comes into the class and he has only five friends, and there are 95 other local students, and he decides to run for class representa- tive. It was like, ‘what do you think, that you can be elected?’ ” said Dr. Pallavi Patel, M.D., who was impressed by “this decisive, leadership quality that he had.” Not only was he elected, the next year, he ran for president of the medical school. “Other candidates [used] all kind of shenanigans to get noticed and get the vote. Kiran just handed out his cards, shook hands, and said, ‘vote for me.’ He won with a large majority. Everybody loved him from pretty much the first semester,” she said. “Long story short, the two of us were able to connect in the first few months of medical school, and then everything developed over a period of time,” he said. What developed between the couple, also known as Dr. K and Dr. P, has led to a 44-year marriage. The two have three children, five grandchildren, multiple business and philanthropic ven- tures, and an enduring relationship in which the Tampa Bay couple describes their roles this way: He is the accelerator. She is the brakes. He is a cardiologist; she is a pediatrician. He is a health care executive, investor, and developer. She oversees multiple medical practices. Both share a vision of giving. Dr. P admires her husband’s kindness and easy-going, unpre- tentious nature. In her, he found a strong and supportive partner. “That’s a delicate balance to have a partner who is supportive and yet has a strong, independent mind. She has a very definite strong mind, and she will fight me. But, if she knows that I’m going to go ahead, she will always be there to support me.” Dr. K was born in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, which is today an independent country called Zambia. He is the eldest of three sons. A minority in an apartheid-ruled land, Dr. K traveled 120 miles to attend the nation’s only high school for Indians. Studying under the British educational system, he earned degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London before returning to his father’s native home in the state of Gujarat, India, to attend medical school. “I like to say I am a nomad or a global citizen, having had the experience of three different cultures,” Dr. K said. Dr. P was born, raised, and educated in India. One of five siblings, she remembers a happy childhood spent riding her bike everywhere and taking dance lessons. She studied Sanskrit, a primary language of Hinduism. Her mother was a homemaker. Her father was a lawyer who encouraged her to study medicine. The Patels were married in 1973. The couple practiced medicine in Zambia before moving to the United States on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. Both received advanced The 44-year marriage of Drs. Pallavi and Kiran C. Patel has led to three children, five grandchildren, and multiple enterprises. BY KATHLEEN KERNICKY