“There’s a lot of excitement,” Moritz said. “It’s been months of uncertainty, and now there’s certainty about what the next step of my medical training will look like. That’s a great space to be in. I’m excited to gain a new, different and diverse set of experiences that I can bring back to Oklahoma and serve the community. I think it’s exactly where I need to be.”
His journey took him from his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to the University of Arkansas, where he earned his bachelor’s in biomedical engineering. After his undergrad studies, he moved to Philadelphia’s Esperanza Health Center, where he worked among a primarily under-resourced Spanish-speaking community before coming to OU.
“My calling in medicine from the start was to serve, partner and stand in solidarity with underserved communities,” Moritz said. “I’m thankful I’ll get to continue my medical training at Duke because I feel their residency program is the perfect place to further my calling in medicine and build on the formative experiences I was privileged to have while in medical school at OU.”
In addition, the graduating medical student has worked with rural and urban, low-income and under-resourced communities in Alabama and Haiti as a medical intern with the Mission of Hope. This well-rounded experience helped shape his mission in medicine.
“So much of my perspective of the world was changed for the better throughout my life because of getting to hear the lived experiences of others directly from them,” Moritz said. “I think I owe much of my calling to serve, partner and stand in solidarity with underserved communities to my parents, who embodied the same calling in their own unique way.”
During his time at OU, Moritz has served as a volunteer and health care consultant with Crossings Community Clinic in Oklahoma City and was also named the president of the OU Community Health Alliance, where he led the service of providing care to underinsured and uninsured patients.
His desire to serve extends to the people involved in health care as well. As a graduate research assistant, Moritz is currently gathering data for the classes of 2025, ‘26 and ‘27 to gauge whether student involvement with under-resourced populations influences their eventual career and volunteer decisions.
“We’ve had 100% participation by the class of 2025 and 2026 for the pre-survey and upwards of 85% for the class of 2025’s second survey,” Moritz said. “Preliminary results show a great benefit to medical students’ understanding of underserved populations, cultural competency and confidence in providing health care to underserved communities.”
While Moritz’s resumé of service highlights a person invested in promoting change in his community, his intelligence and leadership aided in landing him to his next destination. He recounted the many roles of leadership OU provided as reasoning for his growth.
“I was able to be the philanthropy chair for my class for two years and partner with my colleagues in setting up other service opportunities in the community,” Moritz said. “I think OU immeasurably helped me with this next step in my career. OU provided me the experiences necessary and allowed me to chase after the aspirations that I had.”
Moritz’s connection with the faculty and staff at OU also paid dividends. The Chief Medical Information Officer of OU Health, Dr. Matthew Atkins, is an alumnus of the internal medical residency program at Duke and helped paved the way for Moritz to call Durham his new home following graduation.
“It’s hard to not think about all the faculty and staff writing letters of recommendation for my residency application. Specifically, Dr. Atkins’ letter, support in networking and of my pursuit of completing my residency at Duke. It was a big game-changer in my match.”
Moritz believes that his experience at OU has provided him with the platform for leadership in his field as well as the perspective of what is needed from him as he moves forward in his career.
Match Day 2023 was another success. The day had resulted in the joy and excitement that medical students strive for during their academic careers.
Outside the ballroom was a chart of the United States embellished with pins from medical students signifying the destination where each student was off to serve in their residency. OU medical students are heading all over the map to bring their experience to new communities.
Now there is a pin in Durham, North Carolina.
