#TempleMed Love Stories
Inspired by Valentine’s Day, we wanted to celebrate love — Temple Med style! We asked our community to share their stories of finding love through a shared Temple connection.
Brianna Sanguily, PA '18 and Mitchell Perry, PA '18
"In 2016, Mitchell and I started in Temple's Physician Assistant Program. Our first course was anatomy and physiology, and we were partnered together to study cadavers. We discovered we both lived in Manayunk and would spend time studying together almost daily. After a month into the program, Mitchell asked me out to Fiorino’s Italian Restaurant.
The first year of our relationship was spent studying with constant test taking. Then our second year (clinical year) is when we decided to move in together. We lived in Manayunk with my dog, Crush, and adopted a cat together, Lilly.
We graduated in August of 2018, moved to New Jersey, and started working. I stayed at Temple working in the Medical Respiratory ICU and Mitchell started with an orthopedic group in New Jersey.
Mitchell proposed to me in the midst of the pandemic on a beach in Cape May. Our wedding is set for May 13, 2022."
David Wilkes, MD '82 and Toni Wilkes, MD '82
"Dave and I met our first year of medical school. He was Class President, and I didn't like him (yet). He was just a little too confident. In our second year, he started having difficulties with a subject I was doing well in, and he asked me if we could study together. We had an exam and afterwards, he asked me a question about the test that made it clear that he would continue to benefit from my help. We were married the end of our third year, and graduated in 1982. We have been married for over 40 years, and have two successful kids; Kristen who is an emergency room physician, and David Jr., who is an electrical engineer manager. We also have two beautiful grandsons!"
Monica DiFiori, Class of 2022 and Gavin Rallis, Class of 2022
"Gavin and I met on the first day of orientation after being placed in the same college (shout-out to Sherry!). We became fast friends because of our shared interests and started dating. In addition to late nights in the library studying, we enjoy playing soccer and watching Netflix with our two cats. We’ve learned so much about how to take great care of patients at Temple and are both applying into orthopaedics. This past June, after taking Step 2, Gavin proposed in Fairmount Park. We’ll be tying the knot in April, one week before we graduate medical school!"
Michael Sidor, MD '87 and Francesca DiLeonardo, MD '87
"Michael and I did not date the first year, in fact we didn't really talk to each other, mainly because the labs were organized alphabetically. But in our second year, we found ourselves at the same table. I recall thinking Michael must have been rather dense since he couldn't locate the Golgi Bodies under the microscope despite their intense purple staining. But Michael's feigned ignorance was just a ploy to seek my assistance at the microscope. Michael obviously was more interested in getting to know me than micro lab. We dated through medical school and then entered the couples' match. Michael matched in orthopaedics at The Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City and I matched in Emergency Medicine at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey. We were married after Michael's first year of residency, and have now spent 32 years happily married!"