NBC 5 Sports Director Newy Scruggs Gives Expert Communication Advice to Burnett School of Medicine Students

FORT WORTH – Being an effective communicator requires active listening, emotional intelligence and empathy.

That’s what the newest cohort of Burnett Brand Ambassadors at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University learned from NBC 5 Sports Director Newy Scruggs, ’23 EMBA.

When you’re the medical expert, you need to be truthful and accurate, said Scruggs who was the featured guest for a media training event called the “Secrets To Media Success” at Arnold Hall.

“You also should instill hope in others,” he said. “People always want hope. In anything you do, even if it’s tough news.”

Scruggs is an Emmy Award-winning sportscaster with 32 years of media experience.  He graduated from the TCU Neeley School of Business Executive MBA program in 2023.

“I really love that TCU has its own medical school and to see what you all are doing,” Scruggs said. “You’re the next generation of doctors right here in Fort Worth.”

The Burnett Brand Ambassador program has won multiple national and regional awards for empowering medical students to be the voice of the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. The program has done this while reinforcing the medical school’s mission of creating Empathetic Scholars® that are compassionate physicians with the ability to “walk in a patient’s shoes” through their health care experience.

Being able to show empathy is important for medical professionals, Scruggs added.

“Being empathetic sometimes might allow someone else to change their viewpoint,” he said.

The students did mock interviews with Scruggs, without any prep, to see how they could handle tough media questions. It was such a great opportunity to get advice, according to Zacariah Ismaio, MS1 at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.

“Right off the bat being put on that hot seat was hard but I think I got so much out of it,” Ismaio said.

Scruggs has interviewed many sports medicine physicians throughout his career about iconic sports figures such Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and more.

The unique brand ambassador program gives the medical students additional opportunities to grow as communicators. Scruggs urged the medical students to talk the media in the simplest terms to have their messages connect with viewers.

“Talk to me like a sixth grader,” Scruggs said. “What is the medical term? How long will the recovery be?  Will they need surgery and how long will their recovery be if they don’t need surgery? That’s the kind of stuff that I want to know.”

Those messages resonated with Ashley Kenney, MS2 at Burnett School of Medicine, who also minored in Journalism for her undergraduate degree.

“I had a preceptor tell me communication is the hardest discipline in medicine,” Kinney said. “I think the brand ambassador program and trainings like these have helped me blossom into being a better communicator.”