Feb. 7, 2025 — On top of all the clinicals, research papers, and never-ending coursework, these College of Medicine alumni found the gift of love tucked between late-night study sessions and volunteer projects. Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with the stories of three dynamic couples who have returned to the College of Medicine space to share their stories. 

For Francesca and Joshua Reside, M.D. ’18, balancing their relationship with distance has become a key part of their daily routine. The pair met during their first year of medical school while speaking to students at Oak Hall School in Gainesville about tobacco cessation as a part of the ATTAC-IT program at the University of Florida. Joshua was immediately taken aback by how great Francesca was with the kids. Between this strong first impression and some conversations at the College of Medicine Christmas party, Joshua decided to take a leap of faith and ask her to the Med Prom. 

In July 2017, the couple became engaged after two years of dating. Francesca has made the decision before to pursue the Health Professions Scholarship Program with the U.S. Navy, which covers the cost of medical school but requires active service following residency.

When it came time to match into residency programs, Joshua and Francesca could not apply for a couples match, as civilian-military matches are not permitted. Francesa matched for pediatrics at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, while Joshua matched at West Virginia University for his orthopedic surgery residency. The pair graduated in 2018 and were married in St Petersburg, Florida, the following year while continuing to live long-distance.

  After her three-year residency, Francesca learned that she would be stationed in Naples, Italy, for two years as the base pediatrician with the Navy. Their distance was now 5,000 miles and six time zones apart.

“The time difference was hard because if I had a long day at work, we would often go a few days without talking,” Joshua said. “This all was happening just as the COVID pandemic was starting, so traveling internationally was extremely stressful and everything could be canceled at any moment.”

Two years later, Francesca is now stationed in Jacksonville, while Joshua works at UF Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine – World Equestrian Center in Ocala, as a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon. They are proud parents to their daughter, Luisa, who lives in Jacksonville with Francesca while she finishes her active duty. 

In June, Francesca’s contract will conclude and the family will finally live together in Ocala. In Joshua’s words, although they faced a tough road, he would not change it for the world. This is just one chapter of many to come. 

Fate and the University of Florida brought together Gina and Stephen Sevigny, M.D. ’93, who met during their undergraduate studies while sitting next to each other at a pre-professional student organization event for volunteering at the UF Health Shands Hospital phlebotomy lab.

Gina was accepted into the College of Medicine’s medical honors program — an accelerated program offered by UF at the time to transition undergraduate students to medical school a year early — and joined the same medical school class as Stephen, who was a year older. After their first year, the pair married and spent the duration of their training carpooling to class and sharing textbooks. Following graduation, the Sevignys continued their residency training at UF, where Gina specialized in dermatology and Stephen in radiology.

Flash forward 30 years, and the happy couple lives in Ormond Beach, Florida, where Gina owns her practice, Ormond Beach Dermatology, and Stephen works at Radiology Associates. They are proud parents to three children: Drew, 27; Elizabeth, 25; and Kate, 20.

Drew graduated from the University of Florida, and Kate is a sophomore at Cornell University. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, Phelan-McDermid syndrome. After a whirlwind of visits to doctors’ offices across the country, she was finally diagnosed by Charles Williams, M.D., a genetics specialist at UF Health.

Class of 2023 medical school graduates, Alyssa Nielsen, M.D., and Jimmy Lee, M.D., currently find themselves in the middle of their residencies as they plan their wedding and futures together. Although meeting on the first day of classes at the College of Medicine, the pair started dating during their third-year clerkships. Living in dorms while completing their rotations in Jacksonville, they bonded over microwavable meals and endless stories. After a while, Nielsen took the initiative and asked out Lee smack dab in the middle of their surgery rotation. 

Residency match threw these two the test of all tests by placing Lee in Dallas for his internal medicine residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Nielsen at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, for her psychiatry residency.

Nielsen and Lee will marry in March. Although planning a wedding from a distance can be difficult, the two capitalize on every second they get together, from traversing around town posing as tourists to snuggling with their two cats, Bear and Bagel.