David Taylor ('17)
Fourth-year medical student at ETSU Quillen College of Medicine, Johnson City, TN
Union’s rigorous academics and Christ-centered community set David Taylor up for success in medical school. Taylor is originally from Dover, Tennessee. He graduated from Union in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in cell and molecular biology.
In July 2017, Taylor enrolled in East Tennessee State University’s MD/MPH program, where he is pursuing a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Public Health (with a concentration in community health) at the same time. He is set to graduate with both degrees in May 2021. After graduation, he will pursue residency training in pediatrics.
Taylor graduated from a smaller high school and knew he also wanted to attend a smaller university where he would be supported — “somewhere that I could grow in my Christian faith, be challenged to think why I hold those beliefs,” he said.
He applied to several small Christian universities in Tennessee, but he was able to participate in Union’s Scholars of Excellence program. He said his visit to campus was “phenomenal,” and he could tell that the people he encountered at Union really cared about him. When he received a scholarship that would enable him to attend Union without accruing any loans, he thought it was a sign that God was leading him to the university.
As a student, Taylor was active on campus. He was a four-year member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, involved in the Student Government Association, served as a Welcome Week leader and worked as a student ambassador. In addition, he worked for three years in a local pediatrician’s office, was part-time minister in the high school ministry at Fellowship Bible Church and participated in several mission trips to Haiti.
Taylor said his time at Union transformed his life academically, spiritually and relationally.
“Union was a pretty foundational experience in my life in developing the reasoning behind why I believe what I believe, and how to defend that,” he said. “Especially in the sciences where many in secular fields would view science and religion as antithetical, Union went a long way to show me how the two can really kind of build on each other.”
Academically, Taylor was challenged to work hard, especially in his chemistry and biology classes. He said he was never handed “easy grades” — he was always urged to develop himself and learn as best he could.
“That was a huge part of why I’ve done as well as I have in med school, because it wasn’t handed to me in undergrad,” he said. “I was challenged and had to think and had to balance a lot of things. That’s really translated well to medical school.”
Taylor also learned how to truly know and invest in the people around him and go beyond surface-level friendships. He said the best friends of his life are the friends he made while at Union. In addition, “I was taught how to be a leader and transformed from a high schooler who didn’t have a lot of direction into somebody who’s able to lead people, and lead well, I think,” he said.
Union faculty and leaders who made an impact on Taylor include President Dub Oliver; Bryan Carrier, vice president for student life and dean of students; Carol Weaver, professor emeritus of biology; and William Thierfelder, associate professor of biology. Oliver and Carrier mentored Taylor, and Weaver and Thierfelder helped guide him along the medical school path and stay connected with him today.
If he had to choose a college all over again, Taylor said he would choose Union University every time.
“Union is going to get you where you want to go. … They always had a reputation for getting students into professional school, but I never realized how transformative in other areas of my life my time at Union would be, and how well they would prepare me for medical school,” Taylor said.
“The things I learned at Union about intently getting to know people and diving into those relationships has influenced how I interact with my patients, in trying to get to know them, and really helps me be a better physician. I don’t think that’s something you get at a university where you’re not known and developed like the way I was at Union.”