For first-year Seattle medical student Nick Talley, the path to medicine began long before he ever opened a textbook. Talley spent 20 years on active duty in the US Army, serving as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant—better known as a Green Beret—from October 2002 to October 2022. Stationed with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, he provided trauma care, primary care, preventive medicine, and humanitarian medical support in some of the world’s most under-resourced environments.
Although he enlisted in the wake of 9/11, Talley says his decision to join the military was grounded in something deeply personal. “My decision to join the military was driven primarily by a desire to provide stability for my new family and to build a better life than the one shaped by poverty,” he explains.
Across two decades of service, the most meaningful moments came through caring for others. “The most rewarding part of my service was the opportunity to care for people in their most vulnerable moments,” he says. Whether treating fellow service members or providing medical support to civilians impacted by conflict or displacement, Talley found purpose in offering care where it was needed most: “Being able to provide help where no one else could, and to see the impact of compassionate medical care in austere settings, was profoundly fulfilling.”
As he begins his medical school journey, Talley sees his military background as foundational to the physician he hopes to become. “My military career instilled in me a deep sense of duty to humankind,” he reflects. He carries with him lessons in empathy, humility, patience, and service—and a commitment, he says, “to bring out the best of humanity through the care I provide for others.”
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