Career-Related Volunteer Service: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (3 pts)- Evan Crump, Class of 2028

Volunteering at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has given me a clearer understanding of the kind of physician-scientist I hope to become. Being in a pediatric hospital has allowed me to see healthcare beyond diagnoses, treatments, and scientific questions. Every patient is also a child with a family, a personality, fears, routines, and a life that continues beyond the hospital room. That perspective has made the purpose behind medicine and research feel much more tangible to me.

As someone interested in becoming a physician-scientist, I am drawn to the opportunity to ask questions that can ultimately improve how children are treated. At CHOA, I have been reminded that research is most meaningful when it remains connected to the people it is intended to serve. Scientific advancement may begin in a laboratory, but its impact is ultimately measured in moments such as a child experiencing fewer side effects, a family receiving more hopeful options, or a patient being able to return to a more normal childhood.

This experience has also challenged me to think more deeply about the type of professional I want to become. I do not want to approach medicine and research as separate pursuits. I want my interactions with patients to shape the questions I ask in research, and I want the discoveries made through research to translate into more thoughtful and effective care. Volunteering at CHOA has strengthened my commitment to pursuing a career where curiosity and compassion continuously inform one another.