Elizabeth Kim '17

Medical school student

Fairmont, Minn.Hometown: Fairmont, Minn.
Major: Biology & Spanish

Elizabeth Kim begins her second year of medical school with a goal as broad as the healthcare horizon: She seeks to serve others.

“I’m leaning toward primary care or internal medicine,” she says. “I’m still hoping for inspiration during the third year. I’m planning to go into rotations with an open mind.”

Kim, a 2017 BVU graduate, may have her classroom and lab experience to thank when it comes to such openness.

“I appreciate BVU’s motto. Ultimately, that’s what medical school is all about: Education for serving others.”

“We got to meet all of our BVU biology professors in our first year as they team taught classes,” says Kim, who earned bachelor’s degrees in biology and Spanish. “Although I was interested in applying to medical school, I appreciated being able to take courses like zoology and freshwater ecology. While these did not focus entirely on human biology, they taught me different ways in which we can be amazed by the field of biology and the world around us.”

As a freshman, the daughter of Dr. Hyun and Peggy Kim of Fairmont, Minn., took biology and general education classes, and started a second major she hadn’t considered: Spanish.

“After my first day of class with Dr. Steven Mills (associate professor of Spanish), I was surprised by how excited he was about teaching Spanish,” she says. “I am thankful for his mentorship, and Dr. Mills did a great job of explaining how beneficial Spanish would be, no matter what career field we ended up in.”

Mills joined Dr. Jared White, assistant professor of Spanish, in starting a Spanish literacy class for community members. They organized a Spanish language fair to give high school students additional exposure to the language. Kim helped with both efforts in addition to her biology research that ranged from examining the NIS protein in the lab to performing water quality assessments in Chile.

Kim also served as a resident advisor on campus and played golf for the Beavers. As a junior, she welcomed younger sister, Emily Kim, to campus as a freshman.

Elizabeth Kim is proud of her family and grateful for assistance she received at BVU, not only in scholarship aid, but in the generosity she experienced face-to-face. As a freshman, she was counseled by older biology majors, who spent time preparing her for the day she’d take exams for admission to medical school. Kim paid it forward, offering her time to younger students when she was a junior and senior.

Service, whether at a study table or in a lab, made a lasting impression, prompting Elizabeth Kim to fulfill BVU’s mission: Education for Service.

“I appreciate BVU’s motto,” she says. “Ultimately, that’s what medical school is all about: Education for serving others.”

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