Kelly Jeu, MD (’12)

“There are so many memorable moments from my time at CBU. I remember soaking up the sun in the Quad with my friends after lunch. I remember going on a freshman retreat with the Honors Program, where I got to zipline across a lake for the first time. CBU also gave me the opportunity to study abroad — not just once, but twice (England for a month and Rome for a week). CBU introduced me to the world outside of North America. I absolutely loved the experiences I shared with my small group of classmates, getting to know my professors outside the classroom and seeing world-famous historic sites.”

Kelly Jeu is a native Memphian. Following her graduation from Houston High School, she enrolled at CBU and majored in Biomedical Science with minors in Art and Chemistry. As a student, she was active in the Honors Program and Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society. She worked part-time in an immunology lab at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and was one of the co-authors of Don’t Get Sick, Stan!, a children’s picture book written and illustrated by the students in Dr. Stan Eisen’s Parasitology (BIOL 413) class.

After graduating from CBU in 2012 with her BS in Biomedical Science, Kelly interned for a year at Church Health as a Scholar-Clinic Assistant, giving her direct contact with underserved patients in the Memphis community. She then enrolled at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine and graduated with her Doctor of Medicine in 2017. She then moved across the country to California, where she matched her first choice for residency training at Loma Linda University, a Christ-centered Seventh-day Adventist university dedicated to mission-focused learning through the integration of health, science, and faith.

Dr. Kelly Jeu is still at Loma Linda University, where she has served as Chief Resident of Pediatrics and is an Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine. She is currently a General Pediatrician at the university, working at several pediatric clinic sites in the Inland Empire region of Southern California and occasionally caring for newborn babies in the children’s hospital. She says that the intersection of faith and medicine at the university resonates with her, given her past experiences at CBU and Church Health. “We also seek to develop strong educators for the next generation of physicians,” she says. “This emphasis on teaching was also familiar to me because of my experience at CBU (‘enter to learn, leave to serve’). I feel as if every major step in my career journey has led me to work at a place that cares for the whole person and with people who identify with this mission.”

Kelly also currently serves as a faculty coach to a pediatric resident, providing guidance and a listening ear. She volunteered in COVID vaccination clinics early in the pandemic to provide protection to the community. And occasionally she comes back to Memphis as a guest panelist to discuss her journey to medicine with current CBU students.

CBU taught me the importance of serving others. Service opportunities could be found all over campus. It is the culture of CBU. I remember both the Honors Program and Tri-Beta hosted numerous events I was involved in, such as Bowling for Uganda, cleaning the Brothers’ quarters, and building greenhouses at a local farm. These experiences highlighted the community feel that CBU offers. We were serving our community, our neighbors.