“When I first came to the U in 2017, I did all of the things I thought would make me happy. I enrolled in classes, joined a fraternity and made new friends, but I still felt like something was missing. After serving in Mongolia as an English teaching missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018-2020, I found a new purpose in my life and as a student at the U. I realized that small actions can have a big impact, and everyone—myself included—has the ability to improve the lives of others if they try. I wanted to do my part.
Because many Mongolians live nomadic lives and move with the seasons, it is often difficult to find and access health care. It’s especially hard to overcome health disparities in the rural countryside. Half of the country’s population lives in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, which is also where most of the specialists who treat diseases like breast cancer work. For the other half who may live as far away as a 13-hour train ride, urgent care is even harder to find.
In 2020, I met Dr. Raymond Price, co-founder of the Center for Global Surgery at the U, who was working to address these challenges and improve surgical care in Mongolia. Because I speak the language fluently, he included me in several projects that are working to train Mongolian physicians in order to create lasting change. His mentorship inspired me to set a new life goal to use my skills to help as many people as I possibly can.
For several years, despite a 14-hour time difference, I served as an interpreter and researcher in Zoom meetings with a multi-disciplinary board of Mongolian and American breast cancer specialists who discussed difficult cases and the best course of treatment. Then in 2022, I traveled back to Mongolia with Dr. Price to help interpret an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course that teaches physicians how to save someone’s life after they experience a trauma like getting hit by a car or falling off a horse.
During these trips, I built strong connections with physicians from the National Cancer Center of Mongolia and the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. Together we traveled across the country to support ongoing physician training in breast cancer, ATLS and liver transplants as we worked to sustainably expand healthcare access throughout Mongolia.
When we traveled back in the fall of 2024, I realized how unconventional my undergraduate experience had been—attending university classes online at 1 a.m. local time, taking finals in the South Korea airport and working in the Gobi Desert to organize a breast cancer screening project. My time at the U taught me that you can still pursue an education while making a difference. You don’t have to wait until you’re a doctor to help others. You already have the skills you need to make the world a better place, and if dedicating your life to something can make even a 3% difference, it’s worth it.”
—Leif Sorensen received an undergraduate degree in kinesiology at the U and is currently enrolled in a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation program, focusing on global health.