Celebrating the Graduating Class of 2025: Todd Chamoy

The University of San Diego would like to congratulate all of our wonderful students who are graduating this year. We will be spotlighting students from across campus, sharing their educational journeys leading up to commencement.

This May, Todd Chamoy is graduating from USD's Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science with a Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a focus in pediatric care.

Chamoy came to nursing at the end of a winding path of personal and professional discovery, and a successful career as a defense contractor. He studied biology during his undergrad at MIT, but found the work after graduating to be lonely. From there, he decided to get a master's in international affairs, which led to work in cost-benefit analysis for a defense contractor. Chamoy says he liked the work, but didn't find it fulfilling.

"While the day-to-day was interesting, I didn't find it rewarding to be a tiny part of a large project," Chamoy said. "I realized what I was missing all along with these different jobs was something where I could go home at night and feel like what I did was really important to other people."

His epiphany came when he was getting some food at a restaurant, where he saw a group of nursing students.

Chamoy talked with his wife about it, and made the radical decision to leave his career behind and pursue nursing. He entered into USD's MEPN program, and immediately knew he'd made the right decision.

"The first week, I was in my scrubs doing rotations, and I realized this was the right thing to do," he said.

Eventually, Chamoy landed a job in the Rady Children's Hospital NICU, a demanding, but rewarding placement.

With his DNP, Chamoy hopes to establish his own practice that helps patients and families once they leave the NICU, providing specialized care that helps those children overcome the challenges ahead, and thrive.