Cool Kid motivated toward career in medicine

INGLEWOOD, Calif.

Esaul Parra has his sights set on a career in medicine. One early influence? His mother, who was studying to be a nurse.

"I was just looking at the stuff. She had a dissecting diagram. I was just curious, 'How do you do that?'" said Esaul Parra.

To help him realize his future goals, Esaul volunteers alongside a doctor as he treats his patients. Esaul sees how the patients need emotional support as well as medical advice.

"They're scared. They might have diabetes, they might develop cancer. They might have something. So I try not to get them worried," said Esaul.

He certainly cares for the adult patients he meets, but seeing the younger patients has given him more motivation toward his medical career.

"Kids at that age, like three, have leukemia. It doesn't feel right. And I believe I can do something about it," said Esaul.

His plan to "do something" begins with his college plans at UCLA.

"I want to do pre-med. Oncologist is really my goal," said Esaul.

Esaul Parra is a young man with the determination and the heart to care for patients young and old.

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