After earning a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Messiah University, Morris was accepted into the Penn State College of Medicine and graduated in 2023 with a Doctor of Medicine degree. He is currently a resident physician in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center where he is gaining experience with a wide variety of specialties including pediatric care, obstetrics and gynecology, and inpatient family medicine.
Morris originally learned about Messiah through his passion for basketball when he was introduced to the campus through a camp trip for his high school basketball team. The opportunity Morris was given to be part of Messiah's honors program and play for the basketball team drew him to enroll after high school, as well as the overall feeling of the campus. Morris' talent for math and enjoyment of the creative process led him to choose a major in Engineering. As he connected with the Engineering Department, he was blown away by the concept of the Collaboratory and the ability to do engineering as a student. After learning more about biomedical engineering, he was drawn to the field and the idea of directly human-facing applications.
Through the Collaboratory, Morris got involved with several biomedical-related projects, including designing a wheelchair for a community in Burkina Faso and partnering with Zambia's Macha Mission Research Center to create a novel diagnostic method for HIV. It was his experience at the Macha Mission Research Center that piqued his interest in medical device design and opened his eyes to a whole new side of biomedical engineering. During his time in Zambia, Morris was able to see how the hospital was run in a mission-centered community and he returned from the trip inspired to submit his medical school application. He shared that his engineering education influences the way he practices medicine and broadened his perspective in many ways. Reflecting on his time with the Collaboratory, Morris shared, "It really set me up to know how to navigate professional interactions, meetings, managing deliverables, and expectations. The Collab was an invaluable experience because of what I gained and how it was unique in helping me to stand out on applications."
After his 3 years as a resident, Morris' long-term goal is to be a physician in family practice. He also would like to be involved in global health in some capacity. The aspect of his job he enjoys the most is being able to develop longitudinal relationships with the people he serves. He shared, "The beautiful thing about medicine, which engineering helped open my eyes to, is that you can be a problem solver while also being an advocate for the person you're serving and also educating them."