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Christopher Elliot
Member Christopher Elliott, MD, FACS, FASCRS, Colonel (Ret)
Chris Elliott is a practicing General and Colorectal Surgeon. He grew up in a military family, mostly in Columbia, SC. He received his Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology from Tulane University and Doctor of Medicine from University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He now resides in San Antonio, TX, with his amazing wife, Carrie, and seven incredible kids- Colin, Mykah, Madeline, Jackson, Beatrice, Gracen and Moses, four of which were international adoptions from Swaziland, Italy and Western Samoa. His heart for missions started at 16 years old when he participated in summer-long mission trips with Teen Missions International to Egypt, Mozambique* and Nepal* (*Both with Kari Segner). These trips completely shaped his desires for life and gave him a passion for overseas missions. Perhaps most importantly, on his trip to Nepal he met Carrie, who he fortunately would marry several years down the road. Chris attended Tulane University on an Army ROTC scholarship and upon graduating, was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army. He served as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Mortar Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer and Battalion Assistant Operations Officer in the 3rd Brigade (Rakkasans), 101st Airborne Division and supported the first regular Army deployment into Afghanistan in December 2021. During this time of leading soldiers, he earned his Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge and Ranger Tab. While attending Tulane, he spent a summer at a mission hospital in northern Cameroon, where he worked with a General Surgeon that firmly forged his desire to become a surgeon. After finishing his time in the Infantry, he attended medical school at University of South Carolina, again on an Army scholarship. He did his General Surgery Residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, and then moved his family to Landstuhl, Germany. There he worked at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and served on small, austere Forward Surgical Teams. During his time as an Army Surgeon, he deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan to care for our wounded soldiers. Over this time he also began to serve on short mission trips with Mercy Ships, operating in Madagascar, Benin, Cameroon and Senegal. He has also worked with World Medical Mission (Samaritan’s Purse), where he has served at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. At Tenwek he was able to care for patients and participate in the training of African surgical residents in the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS). After Germany, his family returned to the States, where he performed a Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship in Houston, TX. Following fellowship he worked at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. After 23 years of service in the US Army, Chris retired as a Colonel. He was recently hired as a surgeon with Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), but has yet to deploy, and is currently planning for full-time employment in the near future in San Antonio in order to support his favorite role as Dad and Husband! |