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![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sullivan1.webp\")
<\/a>Kevin (left) and Leighton Sullivan about 12 years ago. Photo courtesy Kevin Sullivan.<\/p>\nDuring all of that, Sullivan\u2019s wife, Saxony \u2014 who had just had their second daughter Charleigh \u2014 left her job to spearhead Leighton\u2019s care, so it was on Sullivan to ensure the family had a stable income and health insurance.<\/p>\n
He felt something of a pull to go to medical school, inspired by the doctors, nurses and caregivers who had participated in his daughter\u2019s care, but it didn\u2019t feel like the right time.<\/p>\n
Their family was still figuring out their new normal and had decided to leave their home in Wichita to move closer to Children\u2019s Mercy Hospital, ultimately landing in southern Overland Park.<\/p>\n
Plus, the family was still growing. After Charleigh, the Sullivans welcomed two more children, boys Owen and Sloan.<\/p>\n
Still, Sullivan wasn\u2019t able to shake what felt like a calling to pursue a career in medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kind of fixated on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
So, in 2017, at 35 years old, he enrolled at Johnson County Community College to take all the science classes he\u2019d need to get ready for medical school, like biology, chemistry and organic chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of like it\u2019s now or never type thing, it kind of felt like,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n
Between night school and summer classes while still working in accounting, he finished that in a few years and decided to apply for medical school officially, sending in applications to Kansas City University\u2019s Osteopathic Medical School and the University of Kansas School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Though he didn\u2019t get in at first, Sullivan did get into the master\u2019s Biomedical Sciences program at Kansas City University. Now, he sees that as fortuitous.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad I had that, because I think it would have been very difficult to succeed in medical school without it,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI do feel like the master\u2019s program was something that I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In particular, he feels that the master\u2019s program helped prepare him for the speed at which you have to learn in medical school. It didn\u2019t hurt either that a lot of the first year of medical school covered a lot of the topics that were fresh in his mind from his master\u2019s.<\/p>\n
(Around the same time he was preparing to start medical school, his wife, Saxony, reentered the workforce, going back to work as an exercise physiologist in the Saint Luke\u2019s health system.)<\/p>\n
Still, medical school was hard with \u201cinformation just kind of coming at you like a fire hose.\u201d But, he fell into a routine that involved several solo study sessions at the Panera at Bluhawk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is rigorous, and it\u2019s demanding, but it\u2019s very rewarding, and I enjoyed every minute of it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was worth every bit of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan drew inspiration from doctors along the way Over the years, Sullivan said, dozens of doctors, nurses and everyday people have helped support him and his family.<\/p>\n However, through the acute phases of Leighton\u2019s sickness and later through medical school, Sullivan says there\u2019s been one doctor in particular who inspired him. That\u2019s Jenni Linebarger, who he said \u201chas been a constant source of encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n They first met when Leighton was at Children\u2019s Mercy and receiving palliative care \u2014 a medical specialty that focuses on symptom relief for patients who are living with serious conditions \u2014 overseen by Linebarger\u2019s team.<\/p>\n Linebarger, a former pediatric patient at Children\u2019s Mercy herself who had suffered from Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome at age 10, was the first physician to work on the palliative care team at the hospital. Leighton was also her first palliative care patient who had the same illness that she did as a child.<\/p>\n \u201cShe, as a little girl, really has stayed with me since the day I met her,\u201d Linebarger said.<\/p>\n When she heard Sullivan was planning to start medical school a few years ago, she was a cheerleader for him. And when it came time for Sullivan to start looking at residency programs, Linebarger said it was a \u201cno-brainer\u201d to write him letters of recommendation as well.<\/p>\n Linebarger calls Sullivan\u2019s profession of inspiration \u201creciprocal\u201d since she feels inspired by him, too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need more Kevins in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cI find him inspiring to transition careers after 15 years. \u2026 I think that\u2019s inspiring to really turn that story into a different type of life-changing event than some people might.\u201d<\/p>\n Sullivan will do his residency in Kansas City Sullivan, now 43, is officially Dr. Sullivan after graduating from medical school on May 8 and matching for a dual residency at UMKC and Children\u2019s Mercy in internal medicine and pediatrics.<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as I enjoy and am proud of what I\u2019ve accomplished, I recognize that there\u2019s so much more to do, and I\u2019m ready to get started doing that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Though he\u2019s still got four years of residency ahead of him, he\u2019s got his eye on becoming a pediatric primary care physician who specializes in caring for children with complex medical needs.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to keep them well as long and as often as possible,\u201d he said, adding that he wants to do what he can to keep his patients out of the hospital.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all sort of bittersweet for Sullivan; he doesn\u2019t regret going to medical school and pursuing this path later in life.<\/p>\n However, he can\u2019t help but think about Leighton and everything that\u2019s happened to her; how it was her health journey that brought him to this point.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the happiest times of my life was when she was born, and as she was growing up, and as she was a little kid, so I still like to look back at that,\u201d Sullivan said, \u201cbut if you look back too long, it just gets depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Kevin Sullivan (center) with his family finding out he\u2019d matched for a residency in Kansas City. Photo courtesy Kansas City University.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Kevin Sullivan graduated from medical school on May 8. Photo courtesy Kansas City University.<\/p>\n