Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Graduates Discover a Passion for Research
From Parkinson's disease to childhood trauma interventions, four-year research projects gave graduating medical students insight into careers and future patient care..
FORT WORTH – Research is a cornerstone of the Empathetic Scholar® curriculum at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.
At the annual Esch Family Scholarly Pursuit & Thesis (SPT) Research Summit that commitment was on full display as graduating medical students presented the conclusion of their four-year research project to faculty, peers, and guests.
Kailie McGee, M.D.’26, said her experience researching the potential impact of Clusterin to neuroprotection in patients with Parkinson’s disease was transformative.
“I think in the end, the SPT project made me become a better physician overall,” Dr. McGee said.
The SPT curriculum reflects the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s belief that the most successful physicians are also curious and seek better solutions for their patients. Six student research projects were selected to present at the symposium. There were three selected that were voted by their peers and three voted by faculty members at the medical school.
Blake Dwyer, M.D. ’26, received the most votes from his classmates for his SPT project. His research studied the impact of anesthesiologist’s familiarity toward outcomes in pancreaticoduodenectomy and its effect on patient complications and the length of hospital stays.
“I learned how much I actually enjoyed looking at this side of research,” Dr. Dwyer said. “With my military background, quality improvement is huge in making sure that we are getting better and keeping people safe. I look forward to doing more research when I go into residency.”
Similarly, Maeve Galavan, M.D. ’26, discovered more about herself through her SPT research. Her project was chosen by the faculty and staff to present. Her research involved evaluating the effectiveness of a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) therapy on people who experienced adverse childhood experiences.
TBRI was first developed at TCU, according to Dr. Galavan.
“I never had the opportunity to do research before coming to TCU and I never thought that it would be a part of my path,” Dr. Galavan said. “I developed an entire part of myself that I had never considered and now I hope to do research throughout my career.”