The three Jabara brothers grew up serving their community, growing produce and selling it at farmers markets, earning their Eagle Scout badges and interacting with local leaders.
So, it may not come as a surprise that these high-achieving, service-minded brothers pursued medicine as adults to continue to serve and lead in their communities.
All three brothers – Justin, Jordan and James – now have MD after their names. James, the youngest, graduated from WMed on May 11 and his brothers stood by his side, serving as honorary hooders for his commencement ceremony at Miller Auditorium.
Both Justin and Jordan pulled strings in their busy residency schedules to make it to Kalamazoo for the ninth and final graduation ceremony for the three brothers. Justin, an alumnus of Wayne State University School of Medicine, is a fourth-year Orthopaedic Surgery resident at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Jordan, an alumnus of the WMed Class of 2022, is a resident in Ophthalmology at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.
“The phrase ‘it takes a village’ really applies here,” James Jabara said. “It’s a lot of hard work to get to this point and knowing that they have gone through the same rigors of medical school, having them up there alongside me and presenting me with the hood means the world to me.”
For his next adventure, James is headed to Medical College of Wisconsin for a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He couples matched with his girlfriend Maya Giaquinta, a fellow WMed Class of 2023 alum, who will start a pediatrics residency there. He said he has his brothers to thank for paving the path to becoming a physician, believing in him and supporting him when he needed it.
It’s what the brothers have done their whole lives.
Natives of Fowlerville, Michigan, the Jabara brothers were born into adventure. Their mother, Josephine, was a native of the Netherlands. She met their father, James, at a professional conference in Washington D.C. Their relationship was transatlantic until they got married and Josephine moved to the United States. They started a film business and traveled often, filming international wildlife videography.
“They did a lot of interesting things and they wanted to expose us to interesting, unique experiences as well,” James Jabara said. “I think that has brought us all down the interesting, fun paths that we are currently on, and all in our own way, led us to medicine.”
Their paths to medicine varied, the brothers say, but their experiences working toward their Eagle Scout badges, interacting with local leaders and serving their community greatly influenced them. They have the opportunity to continue that as physicians in their practices, and globally from a public health standpoint, Justin Jabara said.
“Medicine is a blend of science, working with people and interacting with people,” Jordan Jabara said. “Throughout our upbringing, we did a lot of restaurant work, constantly interacting with folks, and we had a big garden that supplied the restaurant. Going into medicine, you’re always interacting with folks and I think our upbringing in that regard led me to medicine.”
Justin recently traveled to Honduras on a medical mission where he performed surgeries in cases of pediatric orthopedic hand deformities, limb deformities, and chronic hip dislocations in a rural community. It was a natural move for him, who has been inspired by his parents’ travels and appreciates his opportunity to be of service to people who need it. He personally has provided guidance to Jordan and James’s classmates who are interested in orthopaedic surgery.
“You have that opportunity to lead and help people further themselves in their own paths,” he said.
For James Jabara, a childhood of physical therapy to improve fine motor skills inspired him to look into that area of medicine. In high school, a supportive human anatomy and physiology teacher challenged him to do his best and sparked an interest in human anatomy and physiology.
“Interacting with patients, helping them be better and do better, that’s why I’m currently going into physical medicine and rehabilitation,” James Jabara said.
Jabara had not only teachers in his corner, but two brothers to turn to for advice and questions as he navigated the rigors of medical school. Justin was a fourth-year medical student as James was entering his first year, and he saw how he handled the long hours of studying in the first two years of medical school and his clinical experience in Detroit in his third year.
“He would call us when he was doing his dishes after dinner,” James said. “We’d have a quick 10-minute phone call and then he had to get back to studying. I saw and understood the amount of hard work he was putting in and adopted that mentality.”
They had the benefit of watching Justin go through the requirements of medical school first.
“Personally speaking, Justin paved the way for me in medicine,” Jordan Jabara said. “I always was tagging along with Justin being the older brother and I took a lot of inspiration from him. When he started going down that road, I also became interested.”
Justin Jabara said he was able to pass down knowledge about medical school timelines and when and how to study for board exams, but said his brothers didn’t need much guidance. Justin said he was happy to help his brothers and their classmates when needed, and he knows they will pay it forward.
“I am proud of them for the accomplishments that they’ve made and I think they required very little help from me,” Justin Jabara said.
By the time James started medical school, Jordan Jabara already was a student at WMed and had taken every course James had, just a year earlier. They became roommates – again – during James’s second year at WMed, and having his older brother close by allowed them to support each other through medical school and life events, and Jordan got to know James’s close friends.
“I think there are some of my close friends that have benefited heavily from Jordan's mentorship in ophthalmology,” James said. “It led them down strong paths for residency, which might not have been if we weren't so close and had that social circle built.”
Despite the hard work it took to graduate medical school and secure residencies in competitive fields, Justin, Jordan, and James credit their parents with their success.
“They worked hard to raise us, and I think they are proud of themselves and of us for how far we’ve come along and what we’ve accomplished so far,” James said. “They’ve supported us well throughout this journey, but they are also upstanding members of their own community and support everybody around them as well.”
“The personal and financial sacrifices they made allowed us to choose our own paths and they have made anything happen that needed to happen,” Justin said.