Providing Compassion and Care

Mariellen Van Nieuwenhuyzen has found that her career as a family medicine physician in Emmett, Idaho offers her a meaningful way to serve the people in her community. “My goal is to care for the sick and broken in a way that reflects the compassion of The Great Physician, while at the same time not letting my work consume my life, but to instead use it to continue to open doors for me to love others well outside of my work,” says Van Nieuwenhuyzen.

Growing up, Van Nieuwenhuyzen was always interested in the medical field. Being a part-time caretaker for her mother, who is severely disabled by multiple sclerosis, fueled that interest. “As a young girl trying to better understand the science behind my mom’s failing body, I fell in love with the complexity of the human body and the brilliantly intricate way that God has designed our bodies to work,” she says.

With a dream of medical school and a love of small towns, Van Nieuwenhuyzen left her home in California to study biology in Sioux Center, Iowa.

During her time at Dordt, it became clear to Van Nieuwenhuyzen that a more comprehensive education provided her with meaningful opportunities she may not have had in a more focused pre-med program. “A biology major offered the best opportunity for me to obtain the appropriate pre-requisites for applying to medical school down the road,” she explains. “What I didn’t know at the time was that by obtaining a general degree in biology rather than choosing a more pre-med specific major offered by many larger universities, was that I would also go on to appreciate the little things I learned outside of my health science classes.”

“Getting to explore botany, zoology, and ecology helped me appreciate God’s creation so much more than a simple career-focused degree would have,” she adds.

Pursuing minors in chemistry and the Kuyper Honors Program (KHP), playing trumpet and euphonium in Dordt’s instrumental ensembles, leading the beekeeping club, joining the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) club, serving as a teaching assistant for the biology department, and participating in the life of a local church all provided meaningful opportunities for Van Nieuwenhuyzen to deepen her relationships, knowledge, and sense of purpose, all of which would prepare her for her career and calling today. “In all, these opportunities challenged me to grow and learn in ways lectures or courses never could have, and I am so grateful for the friendships that blossomed from them,” she adds.

Sometimes the Lord’s plans unfold differently than expected, and for Van Nieuwenhuyzen, that became a gift. When her father was diagnosed with colon cancer during her senior year, she set aside plans to study abroad, graduated early, and returned to her family’s farm in Northern California. “In the end, the extra year and a half that I spent living and working on my family’s farm became one of the most meaningful seasons of my life,” she says. The time allowed her to care for her parents, strengthen her bond with her brother, and reconnect with the simple joys of farming and faith. “It helped me separate my identity from my career plans and pour into my local church community in a way that I would not have had time to do if I had immediately started medical school,” she adds.

Van Nieuwenhuyzen went on to pursue her medical education at University of California—Davis, drawn by the program’s opportunities, affordability, and the chance to stay close to her family in Northern California. While attending UC Davis checked many boxes for her, Van Nieuwenhuyzen quickly realized how beneficial her faith formation at Dordt would become. “Attending UC Davis was a bit of a shock for me after graduating from Dordt, largely because the worldview mindset was so staunchly different,” she says. “Yet I am extremely grateful for the doors that the Lord opened for me to pursue this path and for the training and education I gained during that season of life.”

Looking back, Van Nieuwenhuyzen sees God’s hand in the details of how her journey to becoming a family medicine physician unfolded. “Initially I was interested in pursuing a career in neurology—with the hope that someday I would be able to impact the lives of those with similar ailments to my mother,” she says. “However, later in college I shadowed a full-spectrum family medicine physician in Iowa, and during medical school, I began collaborating with several small clinics in remote portions of northern California.” She quickly fell in love with the variety of care and the personal connections family medicine offered, inspiring a vision of the “old-school country doctor,” making routine house calls to care for her community. “The deep long-term connections that being a family physician creates with others has allowed me to get to know someone on a level I otherwise never would have been able to,” she explains.

While her career hasn’t mirrored the “old-school country doctor” image she once envisioned, Van Nieuwenhuyzen says her work today as a full-spectrum family physician still captures that same spirit. She provides care for patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly, and values the long-term relationships that come from walking with people through every stage of life. “Sometimes the most important treatment I can provide is simply being a listening ear,” she says.

For Van Nieuwenhuyzen, her time at Dordt not only prepared her for a fulfilling career in medicine, but it also gave her a deep appreciation for a life of meaningful service and relationships in all areas of life. Together with her husband Cornelius, Van Nieuwenhuyzen is involved in the life and fellowship of their church in Nampa, Idaho, enjoy exploring creation through camping and hiking, and continue to provide care for her mother as they are able. Additionally, Van Nieuwenhuyzen enjoys finding ways to share her knowledge, interests, and faith with others through writing for publications such as In All Things, Core Christianity, and Christianity Today.

“Although the place I live in and my career are not exactly what I had envisioned them to be when I started this journey many years ago, the Lord has been faithful time and again,” says Van Nieuwenhuyzen. “So, if there is one thing that I am confident in, it is that so long as He is glorified in the everyday tasks of my life, then that shall be sufficient for me.”