Every evening, when Doan Khong, MD, came home from his family practice in a medically underserved neighborhood in San Francisco, he brought his work with him. He described his patients, his days, and his purpose. His four daughters listened.

“I don't ever remember hearing him complain about seeing patients,” recalled his daughter, Amy Khong, MD. “He shared with us about his calling, and that influenced us to want to do the same thing as he did,” added her sister, Dorothy Khong, MD.

All four daughters went on to pursue medicine. Three of them--Dorothy, Amy, and Christine Khong, MD--attended the UCR/UCLA Program in Biomedical Sciences, which was renamed the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences in 1997 and became the UCR School of Medicine in 2013.

Finding a home at UCR

As the oldest daughter, Dorothy first heard about the program from a family friend and enrolled in 1995. Her two sisters followed in her footsteps, starting in 1999 and 2003 respectively. Both Dorothy and Amy remembered the warmth of a program that enrolled just 24 students for the first two years of medical school before the cohort completed their medical degree at the UCLA School of Medicine. “We couldn't even skip class, because our instructors would know if we were missing,” Dorothy recalled with a laugh. “It really fostered a lot of learning.”

For Amy, the program’s intimate environment was transformative. She excelled at connecting with people, and the smaller setting allowed faculty to see aspects of her potential that may have gone unnoticed at other medical schools. The program also helped her find her path to psychiatry.

“Because it was not as big of a school, they were able to see the potential of me being in medicine,” Amy recalled. “To this day, without the Riverside program, I don't know if I would get to go through this medical school route,” she added. “I feel very thankful.”

That gratitude has only deepened with time. Amy now works with an underserved county patient population in Northern California, while Dorothy sees many patients on Medi-Cal, both carrying forward the values their father modeled around the dinner table. “It's experiences of Riverside, the residency program, seeing my dad, that make me continue to want to serve the underserved,” Amy said.

Giving back: The Khong-Chan-Ng Family Endowed Scholarship Fund

In 2025, the family took their commitment to improving medical care a step further. Inspired by UCR's mission and their own deep ties to the institution, they established the Khong-Chan-Ng Family Endowed Scholarship Fund as a permanent legacy of their family's dedication to medicine, service, and opportunity.

“UCR was such a big part of our family's life, we just felt it would be the best organization for us to give back to in any way we could,” said Amy. “Being able to pay it forward, because we received a lot of support through the program, seemed like the thing to do,” Dorothy added.

The family structured the fund as an endowment so its impact would endure. “It wasn't meant to be just a one-time thing,” Amy explained. The fund is intended to directly support students who share the SOM's mission of building a diverse physician workforce to improve care in the region.

The mission has a deeply personal meaning for the Khong family. "Our dad came to the U.S. without knowing very much English," Amy said. “Serving different populations from different cultural backgrounds is really important because so many patients are in the same position he was.”

Dorothy echoed that sentiment. “For a lot of these people, English is a second language,” she said. “It matters that physicians can meet them where they are.”

The family also sees themselves in the students they hope to help. “We identify with a lot of the students who are probably the first in their family to go to college and are helping to support their families,” Amy said. “Honestly, if my parents weren't given certain opportunities, we all wouldn't even be in the U.S. getting to go to medical school,” she added. “It's these small opportunities, giving people a chance who might not have had a chance otherwise, that change everything.”

Jane Hoag, director of Development at the SOM, called the fund “inspiring.” “What makes their gift so meaningful is the intentionality behind it; they remember what UCR meant to them, and they're determined to ensure other students have access to that same transformative experience,” she said. “It's about investing in students and creating a lasting legacy that will open doors for generations of Highlanders to come.”

"There’s always a way"

The Khong sisters hope their story encourages other alumni to reflect on ways they might give back, in whatever form feels right to them. “In the beginning when you're going to school, you don't have the funds, but now that we're in our mid-career, Riverside just made sense,” Amy said. “Anybody can help give back, no matter how big or small, and it could be the thing that helps just that one student make it through.”

Amy also credited an unexpected resource that made a meaningful difference: a company match program through her husband Ben's employer at the time. "We had not thought to fully maximize it prior, but it's such a great benefit," she said. For alumni thinking about donating, she encouraged them to check whether their own employer, or a spouse or family member's employer, offers a matching gift program. It’s a simple way to potentially double the impact of their contribution.

Giving back, Amy emphasized, isn’t limited to financial donations. Mentoring, volunteering, and staying connected are all equally powerful. “This is long lasting and makes an impact for other people, and so in that way, it's really fulfilling,” Amy said. “Even if you think you can't do it or can't afford it, there's always a way.” Alumni interested in exploring a gift or scholarship fund can reach out to Hoag, who helped guide the Khong family through the process.

Watching the SOM grow

When Dorothy recently toured the SOM, she found herself standing in the same anatomy lab where she and her classmates had studied decades ago. “That room where all 24 of us were, it's still there, so it's neat going back and bringing back memories,” she said.

At the same time, much else has changed, from the inception of the four-year School of Medicine in 2013 and the addition of the Center for Simulated Patient Care to the opening of the SOM Education Building II in 2023. “To see what this program has become, from its early beginnings to how it is now, is amazing,” Dorothy said. "If the foundation it was built upon continues, with the lecturers, professors, the staff, and that intimate setting, plus this wonderful new building and campus, that's a powerful combination."

As they carry on their family's legacy through their careers and the fund, both sisters agreed that their parents take pride in their achievements. "I think they're pretty proud of us, that we've been able to achieve what we have and to continue on," Dorothy said. Amy added that their parents were excited to be involved in the fund and hope to someday see the new medical school building, having spent time at UCR over the years with their daughters.

“I feel proud for Riverside; it's come such a long way,” Amy said. “I'm excited to see what's going to continue to happen.”