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Grad found passion for medical missions while at Evangel University

Published on Aug 17, 2015 by Paul K. Logsdon

“I love the clinical part, the relational part of my job,” said Nikki Williams, a 2001 Evangel University graduate. Williams is the physician assistant (PA-C) in charge of the medical clinic at Western State Colorado University.

On a daily basis, Williams deals with student physical and mental health issues, and provides preventative education campus wide. “I enjoy having the ability to share with students,” she said.

Williams also enjoys the fact that an academic schedule gives her time in the summer to pursue her passion for serving needy children.

“I recently returned from a medical mission trip to El Salvador, with Joyce Meyers’ Hands of Hope Ministries,” said Williams. “As a physician assistant, I worked with a medical team comprised of people from around the world.”

While there, the medical team saw 1,681 patients, according to Williams, who has taken two previous service trips to Cambodia.

Hands of Hope is based out of St. Louis and works in partnership with about 50 other service groups worldwide, including Springfield-based Convoy of Hope.

Williams was a pre-med student at Evangel and graduated summa cum laude in 2001. She then graduated first in her PA class from Des Moines University in 2006.

“Evangel gave me all the right classes and course load in order to be accepted into med school,” she said. “I was very well prepared.”

Williams felt a call to missions at a young age, and realized her science abilities were her ticket to serving the underserved, at home and abroad.

“As a student at Evangel, emotionally I was in missions, and academically I was in pre-med,” Williams said. While Evangel prepared her well for med school, “The biggest thing was confirming the call to missions on my life and preparing me spiritually to have a heart for the less fortunate.”

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Science and Technology majors and pre-professional tracks provide a foundational level of scientific proficiency, and the department may also develop custom programs to meet individual needs.

For more information and a cool video: https://www.evangel.edu/departments/science-and-technology/about-the-department/