Love Letter to TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine From Mei Mei Edwards

Dear TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, 

I remember how special it was to get a phone call from you congratulating me on my acceptance. I had just finished a long shift at Chick-fil-A and was gearing up to cover the night shift at the hospital as a medical scribe. To say I was ecstatic when I received your call would be an understatement.  

You see, I was fortunate to have been interviewed at multiple medical schools during the crazy medical school application process and so was able to clearly see the differences in what medical schools valued most. Some schools boasted strong research programs believing that these were what makes the best doctors, others bragged about how their curriculum kept churning out alumni that became political powerhouses, and still others emphasized their high match rates in incredibly competitive specialties. But you were different. During interview day you emphasized what you thought was most important in future doctors: empathy and compassion. You addressed the reality of physician burnout head-on and prioritized the mental health of your students. The feeling I got from each of your admissions committee members was one of warmth and excitement instead of the feeling of competition that I felt during other interviews. So despite these other great choices, I chose you.  

I am now a second year medical student and am even more sure of my decision to come here for medical school. Thanks to you I have been able to have many hospital and clinical experiences in surgery, internal medicine, psychiatry, family medicine, Obstetrics and gynecology, Emergency Medicine and pediatrics despite only being a second year medical student. In each specialty, I am able to work side by side with fantastic doctors who are not only willing to teach me medicine, but also advise me on how to move forward along this rigorous path. The early exposure to real patients has opened my eyes to all the different facets of medicine and made it easier for me to determine what specialties and pathway I want to take and what I want my future career to look like as a practicing physician.  

So thank you, TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine – you rock! 

With much love, 

Mei Mei Edwards, MS-2