Once a month, Victor Hsiao spends a day at the Los Angeles Christian Health Center (LACHC) as part of his medical school training at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Keck School of Medicine.

Things were no different early last month, but as he was leaving the hospital at the end of his shift, he found several missed calls on his cell phone from a phone number he did not recognize. When another call from that number came in, Hsiao answered.

The caller told him she was with Dr. Pepper and since he was still in medical mode, Hsiao began thinking back, trying to remember if he had worked with someone by that name. He asked the caller this and she explained that she was with Dr. Pepper, the soft drink company.

This was when Hsiao — who grew up in Redmond and attended school in the Bellevue School District — remembered that about a month earlier, he had applied for a scholarship through the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway program.

According to the program website (www.drpeppertuition.com), applicants must submit a write up about how they will change the world, using 350 characters or less. People then vote on the entries and once a student receives 50 votes, they submit a video to inspire more people to vote for them. Dr. Pepper then selects finalists to compete in throw-off contests at college football conference championship games. The grand prize in the competition is $100,000.

The call Hsiao received was to tell him that he had been selected as a finalist to participate in the throw-off competitions. He placed second and received $20,000.

“I am very thankful that Dr. Pepper gave me the opportunity to be at this year’s Tuition Giveaway weekend,” Hsiao said. “I am extremely grateful for their support as I work towards becoming a doctor. It was truly an honor and privilege to be at the event.”

Hsiao also said he is grateful for the support he has received from his family and friends.

“Without all of them I couldn’t have made it to where I am today,” he said.

While he is interested in pediatrics because he enjoys working with kids, the 2011 Interlake High School graduate said he is still in his first year of medical school and is open to other fields.

Hsiao said he would also like to find a way to work in medically under-served communities.

This came about after he took a trip to China in the summer of 2014. He was part of a program that worked with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

During his time abroad, Hsiao traveled to a number of places outside of Beijing. He said one of the things that stood out for him was the lack of money, resources and medical supplies at the more rural clinics. In addition, the clinics he visited were less than ideal, with conditions ranging from unfinished buildings to understaffed facilities.

Hsiao wanted to contribute and help, but there was not much he could do as he had just completed his junior year of undergraduate studies at Princeton University and had not started his medical training yet.

Although the communities Hsiao was exposed to are halfway around the world, he said they are not limited to other countries, noting that communities such as the homeless in downtown Los Angeles — where he lives at the moment while attending USC — need just as much help.

“Medically under-served communities are everywhere,” Hsiao said.