The Hogstrom twins, Jermaine and Jeremy, have glittering resumes.
The 27-year-old, Chattanooga-born brothers both have black belts in karate. They are also accomplished pianists and champion tennis players.
On top of that, later this month the twins will graduate together from medical school in Alabama at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Auburn. (Then, in July, they will begin a medical residency together at a hospital in Detroit.)
The twins, who spent some of their middle school and high school years in the Kansas City area after their dad took a job there, have always considered Chattanooga home. They attended Big Ridge Elementary School and Berean Academy here before moving away in the mid-2000s.
After they graduated from high school near Kansas City they returned to their hometown to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where they both graduated magna cum laude.
Jermaine (left) and Jeremy Hogstrom will graduate from medical school later this month. As they crest their mid-20s the Hogstrom brothers, sons of former WTCI-TV President and CEO Victor Hogstrom, have begun to look back on their first quarter-century with a sense of accomplishment. In an interview last week, the two said they want to be an example to minorities and other students who may think med school is an impossible dream.
"The African-American presence in medical school is declining," said Jeremy. "We think it's important that African-American males see, through us, that it's possible."
"You don't have to go to an 'Ivy League high school' to go to med school," added Jermaine.
Victor Hogstrom, who now helms a PBS station in Kansas City, said he gained custody of his then-five-month-old twins in the early 1990s. For much of their childhoods he was their primary caretaker. Some of their single-track lifestyle - the twins have always shared interests and academic focus - can be traced to their father trying to create efficiencies when they were young.
"As a parent, I kept them on the same schedule from pre-school to high school," Victor Hogstrom said. Partly that was so they had identical homework and project assignments, he said. His fond hope was that they would grow up debating their opinions at the kitchen table, which is how it played out.
No one, though, could have predicted that the brothers would stay in lockstep throughout college. At UTC, they had approximately the same GPA, the brothers said. And they were surprised - and delighted - to both be accepted to the same medical school.
"I feel like you have two categories of twins," said Jermaine, "some who will be totally separate and some who will have similar tracks. We've always had similar interests."
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Even the brothers were shocked, though, when Detroit Medical Center picked both of them to complete their medical residencies in Michigan.
The brothers said there are pros and cons to being so close. They succeed together, but they also absorb any pain or disappointment the other twin might be feeling.
"We celebrate each other's successes," said Jeremy. "When we both do well, that's when we both feel the happiest."
Judging from their accomplishments, the twins have done more celebrating than commiserating.
"It feels good," said their dad, who has been there through it all. "I'm very happy they decided to become doctors.
"They studied hard, they worked hard, they were determined, and I had their backs."
To suggest a human interest story contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-645-8937.