Christina Metzler Miller

Christina Metzler Miller got her calling to do medical missions when she was 18 years old. Now, with her B.S in Biology-Chemistry from PLNU, an M.D. from UCLA, and a Masters of Public Health from Loma Linda University, she is working with Samaritan’s Purse as a Post Residency Fellow.
 
Christina is working at the African Bible College clinic in Malawi as a Preventative Medicine and Family Medicine doctor and is also conducting public health research.There are many projects underway in Malawi, including a vaccine for malaria, innovations to prevent HIV transmission, and devices to keep newborns alive in low-resource settings. Christina doesn’t know exactly which projects she'll be involved with yet, but is excited for whatever God brings her.
 
She graduated from PLNU in 2008 extremely prepared to finish the next stop in becoming a mission doctor: medical school. When applying to schools, she competed with students from Ivy Leagues and other top-tier colleges, but there was something that made her stand out.
 
While many of her medical school peers took one or two lab classes during their undergraduate studies, or spent a small time doing research, Christina had a lab component with every science class she took. She also participated in undergraduate research where she engineered viral DNA with PLNU professor, Dr. Michael McConnell. By the end of her four years at PLNU, she had racked up thousands of hours of lab experience. 
 
“None of my classmates in medical school had the kind of prep that we had.” Christina notes her mentors, mock interviews, and professors as a reason she was able to get into one of the country’s top 10 medical schools as well as get where she is today.
 
Christina took immunology at PLNU with professor Dr. Dawne Page. It was so in depth, she said, which really paid off in medical school.  
 
“I wasn’t the smartest, but when it came to microbiology and immunology, I was sitting there teaching Harvard grads.”
 
Along with spending hours in lab and doing an honors project in sociology, Christina spent a lot of time viewing the Pacific Ocean while running as a member of University’s track and field team. She says she was able to do it all because Point Loma allowed her to be the student she wanted to be.
 
“Point Loma knew what a science major was; Point Loma knew what an athlete was; Point Loma knew how to take your passions and your interests and really nurture that. When I sat down with my advisor each semester, she would ask me what are your interests? How are you doing? How can we make this happen?”
 
She also did a lot of studying while taking ice baths after track practice, but she recounts that time saying she had a blast in college. The track is also where she met her husband who will be working with her at the African Bible College as a pastor.