The twin treatment

Growing up in Richmond, VA, identical twins Travis and Travan were fiercely competitive. Basketball games, classroom grades, and even a stray quarter on the ground could spark a showdown.

Eventually, the twins realized they were better together. Travan explained the epiphany they had one day: “Instead of fighting each other, we were like, ‘Man, if we combine, we’ll be dominant.’”

From there on out, the brothers decided to be a team—a decision that would follow them all the way into medicine.

The journey begins

When Travis and Travan were around 12, their uncle was hospitalized. The brothers recalled a doctor speaking condescendingly to their family about his condition, prompting them to tell each other: “We could do better than that.” 

• They decided to become doctors, and did much of it side-by-side.
• The brothers were co-valedictorians in high school, attended Stanford and the University of Chicago’s medical school together, and completed the same emergency-medicine residency program.

The brothers had each other’s backs every step of the way. They studied together, traded tips, and pushed each other through the challenges of becoming doctors.

As their careers progressed, that built-in support system remained: each had someone experiencing many of the same pressures who could offer advice and understand exactly where the other was coming from.

About a decade ago, Travis was offered a job as an emergency-department medical director at a Georgia hospital. He agreed on the condition Travan got the job, too. The brothers became co-directors.

Now, their journey has come full circle. In April, the 56-year-olds returned to Richmond as co-medical directors of Chippenham Hospital’s emergency department, becoming the first duo to hold the position there.

• Travis and Travan still swap patient experiences to learn from each other and take daily walks to talk about work and family.
• Travis has a fitting description for the brother who’s been alongside him through it all: his “superpower.”

“No matter how challenging the days are,” Travis said, “you can’t quit, because you got somebody else that…would never quit on you.”