Studying medicine and graduating as a medical doctor with your twin is a beautiful journey and a highlight of their undergraduate career, but it is also a blessing and a privilege.
Drs Jemma and Luc Johnstone graduated on Tuesday (10 December 2024) with a MBChB degree during the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) December graduation ceremonies. Dr Luc graduated cum laude.
According to Dr Jemma, they decided independently from each other to pursue medicine and did not influence one another. This decision was made early in high school.
A beautiful journey
“We haven’t taken this experience for granted, so to have endured it together and finished together, is a blessing. This is one of the highlights of my undergraduate career. In many ways, I think this is one of the last moments we can celebrate a success of this magnitude simultaneously and having accomplished it while being so present in each other’s lives.
“We’ll both move into different phases and spaces of our lives most likely from now on, and that doesn’t mean any less love or support, but naturally the experience will be different. So, this is something to commemorate, celebrate and treasure; both the result of graduating into the working world and, looking back at the most beautiful journey alongside my best friend,” says Dr Jemma.
Dr Luc says it is a beautiful thing to be able to go on this journey of medical school with someone so close to him. “It is yet another milestone in our lives, that we have accomplished together.”
Dr Jemma says she realised it was her life’s calling to take this path. From day one, she says, the desire was in her heart, and she knew she had to do everything to accomplish that dream.
“In high school I came across ikigai – a Japanese concept that refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose and a reason for living. It encompassed passion, mission, profession and vocation – all things that medicine means for me personally,” says Dr Luc.
Growing together
As siblings, there is rivalry – all good natured, says Dr Jemma. “I always know the benchmark to which I should strive when I consider my brother’s achievements, whether it be personal or academic success. He’s brilliant,” she says.
“I think growing as individuals during this time (studying together) and being able to watch each other develop into young adults was a rather underrated, but the most important blessing that I realise is that we were able to share. Most kids grow into young adults away from home or amid their peers, whereas Luc and I were able to share these several years witnessing one another, testing and developing our character during one of the most critical phases of our lives. In short, it’s really been a privilege,” she says.
Dr Luc says he would like to travel and gain experience in a wide variety of specialities, but if he would have to choose a speciality, it would family medicine.
They do not expect to work in the same fields or at the same hospital, but should it happen, it is something they would accept gratefully, says Dr Jemma.