A heart full of service

Nathan Child, first-year medical student at Texas A&M University, has wanted to be a doctor for as long as he can remember.

With a physician for a father, Child knew he wanted to pursue a career that allowed him to help people and have a broad-reaching, positive social impact like his father. “Growing up, I saw the impact that different fields of education can have on society, and everything that I did led me more and more toward medicine because I realized I wanted to help people in a way that was truly meaningful,” he said.

Like his brother Skyler, another first-year medical student, Child completed a two-year mission trip in Mexico for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after he graduated from high school. He says that the experience helped him learn how to connect with people and develop long-lasting relationships with them—a skill that he foresees serving him well as he begins his career in medicine. These relationships have lasted for years, as Child is currently helping a friend that he met on his mission learn English after immigrating to the United States.

Helping people is something Child continued to pursue following his mission trip and throughout his undergraduate career at Utah State University, where he majored in Spanish and graduated in 2019. He volunteered with multiple service organizations and went on a service trip to Guatemala. There, he observed a single rope hanging from the ceiling in the hospital. It was the only relief for women in labor. It highlighted the difference in health care standards around the world, according to Child, and made him even more determined to pursue a career in medicine.

“It was an eye-opener for me,” Child said. “Making the comparison between what I know as health care and what some people face and cannot access when it comes to health care inspired me to continue on my pursuit toward medicine. It showed me how great some of the needs are for different people.”

Article written by Madison Semro