Mother-daughter share Temple medical school graduation milestone: "This is the American dream"
A Philadelphia mother who came to the United States in search of the American dream is now watching her daughter achieve it in the same profession.
On Friday, Phyllis Parkansky will graduate from Temple University's medical school, the same place her mother, Dr. Inessa Parkansky, earned her medical degree 27 years ago.
"It will be a flood of emotions," Inessa Parkansky, a nephrologist, said. "It will bring many, many memories back."
When Inessa Parkansky graduated, her daughter Phyllis was just 6 months old.
Inessa Parkansky immigrated to the U.S. from the former Soviet Union as a teenager and went on to build her career as a physician in Philadelphia.
Now, her daughter is following a similar path, graduating from medical school and pursuing a career as a urologist.
To mark the occasion, Inessa Parkansky will have the honor of placing the doctoral hood over her daughter during the ceremony.
"Tomorrow is going to be surreal," Phyllis Parkansky said. "I feel I have been hanging onto this hooding moment for my entire med school journey."
After graduation, Phyllis will begin her residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While the two pursued different specialties, they both said Temple played a defining role in shaping who they are.
"This is the American dream," Phyllis Parkansky said. "We worked really hard to put ourselves through school."
Inessa Parkansky said she is proud of her daughter's accomplishments, while Phyllis Parkansky credits her mother's sacrifices and determination as her inspiration throughout medical school.
"Knowing that I made her proud, that I made the family proud, that's everything," Phyllis Parkansky said.
Just two days after graduation, the family will celebrate another milestone: their first Mother's Day as two doctors.
"It's absolutely a full circle moment having come here as a young immigrant and shaping my future knowing what my family went through," Inessa Parkansky said.
