Meet Cute

In May 2014, Jonathan Corsini and Laura Odorizzi Corsini earned their medical degrees—and the “cutest couple” award—from Jefferson. The two say that the medical college, is and always will be near and dear to their hearts.

“The first word that comes to mind when I hear Jefferson is ‘Laura,’” Jon says. “That’s where we met, spent the majority of four years together, and fell in love.”

Laura agrees: “For me, Jefferson will always have a very special place in my heart because it is where I met Jonathan.”

The couple met on the second day of orientation. She was living in an apartment on South Street, and he was sharing a house with three other students on Rodman Street. She knocked on the door of that house to meet up with one of the housemates she had met earlier, and Jon answered.

“He gave me a lengthy tour around the house and didn’t leave my side the rest of the night. I’m pretty sure I knew that very first night that Jonathan would always be by my side,” she says. 

“There was immediate chemistry between us, and within a few months, I started thinking about marriage,” Jon says. “I couldn’t picture my life without Laura.”

The couple wed just a few weeks before graduation. A month later they started a new chapter of their professional—and personal—lives in Texas, where Jon was stationed with the U.S. Air Force.

Jon participated in the Health Professions Scholarship Program, which provides military scholarships to help cover civilian medical school tuition. He entered active duty service with the Air Force upon graduation and matched for residency in ophthalmology at the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium. 

“Miraculously, even though we could not couples match, since I was military and Laura was a civilian, she was able to match with the only dermatology residency program in San Antonio at the University of Texas Health Science Center,” Jon says. “We feel incredibly blessed that we were able to match our dream specialties in the same city.”

Four years later, they both completed their respective residencies, and Jon was sent to his next assignment at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. He was now a captain but was quickly promoted to major. Laura secured a position as a comprehensive dermatologist in Alexandria, Virginia.

In February 2020, the couple welcomed a daughter, Adeline Rose. And then the pandemic hit.

“We managed to telework [and] learned how to parent, and how to stay healthy during those trying first few months,” says Jon. 

While cooped up at home and waiting to return to in-person care, Laura read a 13-book fantasy series, and Jon fulfilled a long-lived dream of writing one.

“I’ve always loved escaping into fantasy stories—Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars—and the idea of writing my own novel had floated in the back of my thoughts for a while. I realized that I would regret it if I never sat down and gave writing a chance. As soon as I started, I couldn’t stop,” he says. 

“Level Up Charlie” is a young adult fiction novel set in a near-future world where the discovery of Atlantis unlocks superpowers for most—but not all—of humanity. Sixteen-year-old Charlie Turner has to put his rare power of invisibility to use to rescue his kidnapped mother, triumph over terrorists, secure the Fountain of Youth, and save the world.

The book is finished, and he is now pitching it to agents “to see if it has a shot at being published.”

If not, well, he always has his day job—ophthalmology.

“I fell in love with ophthalmology when I realized how happy ophthalmologists and their patients were,” he says. “LASIK and cataract surgery are quick, safe procedures that have [an] immediate and lasting impact on patients’ lives.” 

Although Laura initially planned on a neurosurgery specialty, after a few clinical rotations, she became interested in dermatology due to the “great education and mentorship at Jefferson.” 

“I ended up loving dermatology,” she says. “And ultimately, with an outpatient, clinic-based setting, I would get to follow the majority of my patients and their families for their whole lives. Building that patient relationship is without a doubt the most special aspect of medicine to me.”

Jon separated honorably from the Air Force in July 2022, and two months later, the couple moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, to be closer to family—he is from Wilmington, Delaware; she is from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 

Laura is now practicing at John Wildemore Dermatology in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Jon recently opened the Corsini Laser Eye Center right down the street from her office. A few months ago, they welcomed a son, Declan James, to the family.

“Looking back at our years at Jefferson feels slightly surreal, and a touch magical,” Laura says. “When I think about the life it helped us build, it’s hard to believe it was a decade ago!”  

Jon adds, “These past nine years have been an exciting journey, and we are thrilled to be back where it all started.”