Her Jefferson experience still resonates to this day. “I had a blast,” she says. “I really enjoyed medical school. The faculty were excellent, I made great friends, and got a wonderful education.”
For David, who went to med school at Penn, an education was a perfect way to explore life outside of the small town where he grew up. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he says. “I was just looking for something. There weren’t many different ‘outs’ growing up in my small town, and getting an education was one of them.”
Kathleen and David continued to date while studying at their separate medical schools in Philadelphia before getting engaged at Christmas in 1980 and married in October 1981. Their married life started on Jefferson’s campus, living together at Barringer Hall.
Upon graduation, Kathleen completed her residency in anesthesiology at Temple University, followed by a pediatric fellowship in anesthesiology at St. Christopher’s Hospital. She rejoined Jefferson in 1988 and worked there through 1994. “Everybody that was there was just so outstanding,” she says. “It was a great educational environment.”
David remained at Penn for two residencies, in internal medicine and anesthesiology. After working for a year at Lankenau Hospital, he, too, joined Jefferson as an anesthesiologist from 1991 to 1994. “We enjoyed teaching the residents at Jefferson,” he shares. “It was a lot of fun.”
The couple headed west in 1994 to explore new horizons and career opportunities in Arizona. They initially practiced general anesthesiology as part of Valley Anesthesia Consultants, a large group that covered multiple hospitals in the Phoenix metropolitan area, before each specialized further. “We both liked the science behind anesthesia and the patient care relationships that you have,” David says. “I gravitated to the higher-risk patients that you tend to see in cardiac care and Kathleen wanted to take care of children.”
“It was a fulfilling career,” Kathleen shares. “We’ve loved taking care of the patients and being part of our anesthesia group. For me, the best thing was the children I took care of and the staff that I worked with. They truly made my job worthwhile.”
The couple are grateful for their medical education and the world of opportunities available to them thanks to the scholarships and support they received as medical students. Inspired by their own experience, they are passionate about continuing the legacy of generosity begun by the benefactors that supported their career journeys. They view philanthropy as a way to pay it forward and ensure that future generations can, too, follow their dreams.
In 2009, David and Kathleen established the Kathleen S. and David M. Guarnieri Scholarship at Jefferson for the purpose of assisting medical students. This year, they established a generous bequest gift from their estate that will further maintain the scholarship upon their passing. A total of four educational institutions they hold dear, their high school, college, and respective medical schools, all benefit from their continued generosity.
