About 1.4 million people in the United States live with Tourette Syndrome, a neurological condition marked by repetitive, involuntary movements - commonly known as tics - such as head jerks, nose twitches or touching the face. These movements can be triggered by high levels of anxiety or stress that begin in early childhood and can carry on into adulthood, though it can be managed with behavioral therapy.
This was a reality for first-year medical student Eugene Santos II, who was diagnosed in elementary school following his parents’ divorce. His tics were activated due to the stress of moving back and forth between Guam and Hawaiʻi.
Santos’ parents ended up scheduling him for an evaluation with a neurologist, who then formally diagnosed him with Tourette Syndrome.
“My intent was to pursue some sort of writing career, whether that was music or poetry,” he said. “One way or another though, I found myself questioning if there was space for me in medicine. I’d always been interested in it. But because of my Tourette’s, I had an idea of what I could and could not do, and what I could do, and what I could not do included helping others with their health.”
With the help of his mentors, Santos grew more comfortable in his interest in medicine and decided to pursue it further.
In his early college years at Washington State University, Santos was a caregiver for an elderly patient who was a retired nurse. He recalled having a hard day at work due to his tics, but his patient shared something with him that changed his perspective of pursuing medicine.
“I remember I was getting her into bed, and she said, ‘You have such good bedside manner. Why don’t you go into healthcare?’ Despite the fact that my tics were really active that day, she saw something in me that was more than that.”
In 2025, Santos matriculated into the JABSOM Class of 2029.
It was during his MD3 course in January that he crossed paths with Dr. Johnathan Kim (JABSOM MD 2026), who also lives with Tourette’s. Kim was the first-year students’ junior course director and helped to develop the course curriculum, which focuses on nephrology and hematology.
During one of the first-year students’ courses, a mutual friend in Santos’ class made the connection, which Kim approached Santos to chat.
Santos initially thought Kim was meeting him about his grades, but their initial meeting turned into a lifelong bond.
“To me, that was so cool,” Kim said, thinking back to the refreshing conversation he had with Santos. “I felt like someone could actually understand what I felt.”
They shared a similar background - family dynamics, being diagnosed with Tourette’s at a young age, even pursuing the same path of creative writing during their undergraduate years.
“We always say representation is important, in whatever field it is,” Santos said. “Being able to talk with someone about some of my insecurities and someone who has Tourette’s has been really helpful. I’m just super grateful that he was willing to share his story with me.”
As he closes his first year of medical school, he feels the challenges that come with medical school, but he is grateful for the people that he gets to navigate it with.
“That’s been really exciting, to push myself in that way and get to learn those things that are really interesting, alongside people who are some of the most genuinely intelligent, kind people that I’ve ever met,” he said.
For Santos, he hopes that his story, as well as Kim’s, will encourage those who may want to achieve a goal of theirs, but feel limited due to their circumstances.
“You may have this thing, but you are not defined by it,” he said. “It may impact how you navigate things. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t find a way to navigate it regardless. Ask yourself, ‘What is it that I want?’ And if you want that, you deserve to at least try to get it. You shouldn’t have to feel pressured to find what you can and can’t do in terms of your condition.”
As Kim transitions from JABSOM to his internal medicine residency at the University of California, Irvine, he shares deep gratitude for the support from his family, friends, classmates and mentors who encouraged him to persevere despite the difficulties he faced with Tourette’s.
“There will be times where you feel alone, and it’s just too much, but I’ve had really great friends and family who were there for me,” Kim said. “I was blessed tremendously with having these people who saw something more than just my condition. They saw a compassionate person, a hardworking person, someone who’s resilient. It’s paramount to have someone who would believe in me, for me. Sometimes I put mental blocks on myself, but we can do a lot more than I think we can. It’s always hard to do what hasn’t been done, so why not us?”
Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month, which is organized by the Tourette Association of America, is observed this year from May 15 to June 15. Click here to learn more.JABSOM’s resources for those with Tourette’s and other disabilities include our Pacific Disabilities Center, as well as a Disability in Medicine Interest Group for medical students to learn more about caring for those with disabilities. 
