Since CoxHealth's Medical Explorers post began 50 years ago, many former participants have gone on to pursue health care as a profession. One of those people is Randall Moore, who today is chief medical physicist at Cox Branson's cancer center.

Randall was drawn to the medical field through Medical Explorers in the 1970s. As a student, he lived only a couple of miles from Cox North Hospital and was invited by a friend to one of the post's meetings.

"The speaker was a surgeon, who talked about open-heart surgery," says Randall. "They pretty much had me hooked at that point."

During his stint as a Medical Explorer, Randall learned a lot, especially at shifts in the Emergency department, where every day was different. However, he also learned what he didn't want to do.

"It did help me to decide that I probably wasn’t physician material but I really liked the feeling of “helping,'" he says, and notes that he ultimately studied computer science and physics. "However, when the opportunity presented itself to apply my education to health care I never really had any second thoughts."

He joined Cox Branson -- then, Skaggs Regional Medical Center -- in 2008 to assist with the facility's new cancer center.

"As a medical physicist, I’m responsible for the technical and scientific aspects of the radiation therapy program in Branson," says Randall. "That includes patient modelling and treatment planning as well as overseeing the quality assurance and operation of our linear accelerator and imaging systems."

Looking back, he would definitely encourage a student to participate in the program -- and go into health care.

"Some days, you get tied up and frustrated in the paperwork and the minutia, but then a patient or family member walks by and just smiles and says, 'Good morning,'" he says. "Then, you remember why you do this."

For many, Medical Explorers leads to a career in health care