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Sixty New Medical Students Began Their Journey With A Focus On Mindfulness And Meditation

FORT WORTH – Sixty new medical students representing eighteen states got a first-hand look at what it takes to become an Empathetic Scholar® at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

The Class of 2028 spent the first two weeks adjusting to Fort Worth and the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU with a two-week immersion course called Introduction to Medicine.

“It’s awesome and I don’t think you would get that anywhere else,” Zach Ismaio, MS-1 at Burnett School of Medicine said.

The course is meant to set students up for success as they embark on their medical school journey, according to Erin Nelson, Psy.D., Assistant Dean of Physician Communication at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.

“We want them to get to know this place as their home,” Dr. Nelson said. “This is their school of medicine.”

A unique part of the course focuses on student well-being. They began one of the days with an early morning meditation session. About two dozen students closed their eyes, took deep breaths and fell deep into thought as they listened to Mark Dennis, Ph.D., Director of the Calms (Compassionate Awareness and Living Mindfully) Studies Group calmly gives tips on handling stress.

“I think it’s easy to always fall into this trap of always needing to study and do well,” Dennis said. “Learning some simple techniques and basic meditation can be a helpful way to take a break and reduce stress.”

Their life outside of medical school can play a big part in their success in the classroom, Craig Keaton, Ph.D., Director of Wellness at Burnett School of Medicine added.

“These bodies, our minds and hearts, these are the things we carry with us,” Keaton said. “This allows us to do what we do and if we’re not taking care of those things we can’t do what we are called to do.”

Another part of setting students up for success is making sure they are aware of the resources available to them.

“We want to start from day one inspiring that lifelong learner,” Dr. Nelson said. “They’re not going to know the answer to everything but we’re going to teach you how to find the answers and how to rely on your classmates and faculty and staff.”

The Class of 2028 heard from a panel of five upperclassmen and received some great insight about their journey and how they have navigated medical school so far.

“We have valuable resources that we can reach out to,” Ismaio said. “Knowing that makes you feel like a greater sense of community and closer ties to the people and the community you want to serve.”

Throughout the two-week course, the students met faculty and staff, had dinner with Burnett School of Medicine Department Chairs, learned about school policies, curriculum and toured the Simulation & Technology classrooms.

Sylvia Inkindi, MS-1 at Burnett School of Medicine, who was selected by her classmates as the student speaker at the White Coat Celebration loved everything about Introduction to Medicine.

“Introduction to Medicine really got me excited about the curriculum at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU,” Inkindi said. “I really got a feel that this is a family environment and it’s going to be my home.”

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Students Become Teachers And Role Models For Young Kids During Mini Med School Program

FORT WORTH – A group of 40 junior high and high school students gathered in a corner of a classroom inside TCU’s Sid W. Richardson Physical Sciences Building putting on scrubs and gloves for a lesson on dissection using cow eyeballs.

They broke off into smaller groups at long black high-top tables and watched as Haya Qadurra, a Senior and Pre-medical major at TCU, took a small scalpel and made incision marks around an eyeball.

“Oh my goodness,” Alivia Offord, an 11th grader at V.R. Eaton High School said.

Offord’s eyes opened wide as Qadurra handed her the scalpel.

“You’re going to cut this all the way down,” Qadurra said.

A classmate, Jarvis Lard, an 11th grader at Steele Early College High School, leaned over Offord’s shoulder with a grimaced look on his face as she chiseled the eyeball in half.

“Oh my god it looks like slime and look it’s blue,” Offord said. “I’m so glad I have on gloves.”

Qadurra picked up the eye lens and explained its functions and how it connects to the body. Most middle and high school students don’t get this level of exposure to medicine, according to Ric Bonnell, M.D., Assistant Professor at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

“There’s nothing like that hands-on holding that eyeball taking the lens out and looking at it,” Dr. Bonnell said. “I expect kids to not just enjoy this but remember it for a long period of time and hopefully it inspires a lot of them to go into health care.”

In early June, the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU held a weeklong Mini Med School summer program for middle and high school students in Fort Worth. The program was run through the medical school’s Service Learning & Community Engagement curriculum from a grant they received. The goal is to spark an interest in medicine in young kids and teach them more about careers in health care they may not be aware of.

“We’re having them be mentored by our medical students and pre-med students at TCU and we also want them to have a lot of fun,” Dr. Bonnell said.

For five days the students participated in an Introduction to Medicine, Slice of Science: Dissection & Narcan Awareness, Community Health and Awareness, Simulation Lab, and Case Study courses. The curriculum aimed to dispel the Hollywood version of how doctors and nurses work to solve complex cases.

“On the first day we treated them like we treat our medical students or my medical residents at the hospital,” Dr. Bonnell said. “We gave them real patient cases in groups and had them be detectives and try to figure it out.”

The Student Becomes The Teacher

Midway through the week students met Ethan Vieira, MS4 at Burnett School of Medicine, for the Community Health and Awareness course. It involved more discussion among him and the students than the hands-on exercises earlier in the week.

“What do you all know about vaping are people doing it,” Vieira said.

The room full of high schoolers answered, yes, in unison. He followed that up with another question.

“Are they doing it at school and how do they do it at school,” Vieira said. Again, in unison, they responded with a very specific answer.

“In the bathroom,” the students said.

Two months earlier Vieira designed this presentation for middle and high school students with Dr. Bonnell’s help. The presentation called, “The Effects of Smoking, Vaping and Tobacco Use,” came out of his own experience as a sixth grader.

“The D.A.R.E. curriculum and the impact that had on me is why I chose to this point to never smoke or try recreational drugs,” Vieira said. “I just I remember this hairy tongue that they showed us that has stuck with me forever.”

Vieira shared tidbits of his own personal experiences dealing with peer pressure to smoke and clinical experiences with patients who are smokers. He’s only a few years removed from undergraduate education and high school, so he understands how inundated young people are with images of smoking.

“People on social media are making rings with smoke and doing tricks showing a side of smoking that they try to make look cool,” Vieira said. “Part of my job and giving this talk and something I try to show is that’s like 0.02% of it. The reality of smoking are the risks to your health and the risks to the health of those around you.”

This is how the Burnett School of Medicine inspires medical students to not only be life-long learners but also life-long teachers, according to Dr. Bonnell.

“Our medical students are teaching high school, undergrad, and junior high students and they’re starting to learn and model that behavior,” Dr. Bonnell said. “They’re going to need to do this well for the rest of their life and careers. It’s a win-win for both sides.”

Leaving A Lasting Impact

On the final day students were partnered with a medical student or pre-medical student mentor for a high-paced activity called, “Stop The Bleed.”

Dr. Bonnell cued up Leona Lewis’s hit song “Bleeding Love” on a Bluetooth speaker and began timing the students as they stuffed gauze bandage into a piece of foam with an open hole.

Aleyah Akuma, 11th grader at Trimble Technical High School, quickly stuffed the gauze bandage into the hole as Dr. Bonnell watched counting. Once she filled the hole, she stood up, crossed her hands together, put them over the hole and applied pressure. 

“Make sure you keep pressure on it through your entire arm,” Dr. Bonnell said. 

He counted to ten and then told her to relax.

“Congratulations you did it you stopped the bleed,” Dr. Bonnell said.

Akuma smiled. This was her second time participating in an activity put together by the Burnett School of Medicine and its Service Learning & Community Engagement curriculum.

“I want to go into medicine so I’ll be here again next summer,” Akuma said.

The exposure to medicine doesn’t stop with the weeklong program. The students will meet up with the Service Learning team again in August before returning to school for the Fall.

This program is all about piquing their interest in becoming a doctor or the other allied health professions and growing their knowledge base, Dr. Bonnell added.

“We want to expose them to as many different areas of medicine we can,” Dr. Bonnell said.

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Students Are Planting Seeds To Help Revitalize The COMO Community Garden

FORT WORTH – If you take a ride down Camp Bowie Boulevard that runs through the COMO neighborhood in Fort Worth you might see residents pushing carts along the sidewalk filled with food.

They’ve likely taken a mile-long trek to a food bank in search of healthier food options.

“That really breaks my heart,” Sandra Stanley, Ph.D., CEO & Founder of Opening Doors For Women In Need said. “They are just trying to make it just trying to survive.”

There are an estimated 280,000 Fort Worth residents living in a food desert, which is defined by being situated a mile or more from a full-service grocery store, according to the Tarrant County Food Desert Project. To get affordable and healthier foods, residents without transportation in COMO must find a way to travel at least a mile outside of their neighborhood.

COMO is located in 76107 area code of East Fort Worth and has 31,591 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The neighborhood is a little more than one-mile long in all four directions but only has three grocery stores (Tom Thumb, Natural Grocers, and Central Market) that carry fresh produce.

A lot of residents will venture outside of the neighborhood to find more affordable grocery stores, Stanley added.

“A lot of our community goes to Walmart marketplace because it’s more affordable for them,” Stanley said. “The local little stores we call them the corner stores they don’t have vegetables.”

Stanley is a longtime COMO resident who also runs the COMO Community Garden at the corner of Humbert Avenue and Prevost Street. She is trying to reduce the need of residents traveling outside the community for fresh food by offering what is in her garden for free.

“We harvest a lot and take it to the senior center or anyone can have it the gates are always open,” Stanley said.

Keeping the gates open is simple. However, keeping the garden fertile and growing crops has been a challenge. After the COVID-19 Pandemic made social distancing more common, the number of volunteers at the community garden dropped off, Stanley added.

“We’re just trying to keep our doors open and survive,” Stanley said.

HELP FROM AN UNEXPECTED PLACE

The help Stanley needed came from a place she least expected. During a health event at the COMO Community Center (CAC), she had her blood pressure checked by Ric Bonnell, M.D., Assistant Professor at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

“We hit it off really good and I started talking to him about our non-profit (Opening Doors For Women In Need) and that’s when he said let’s work together,” Stanley said.

Through the Service Learning & Community Engagement curriculum at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, Dr. Bonnell was able to connect medical students with Stanley.

The interconnectedness of food and health is something that resonated heavily with Whitaker Reid, MS-2 at Burnett School of Medicine. He lives in COMO and previously had a positive experience at a different community garden prior to starting medical school.

“I saw the impact that had especially for individuals who are food insecure,” Reid said. “When I saw the opportunity to do a social impact challenge here at TCU I thought we have something right here in our backyard and it’s just waiting to be given extra time, love and attention.”

Before putting hands in the dirt and boots on the ground, Whitaker felt it was important to meet Stanley and listen.

“He was very, very sensitive and asked me what I wanted to see and what I needed help with and listened to what I needed,” Stanley said.

This is a lesson in empathy and communication that medical students can benefit from as they grow into Empathetic Scholars® and future physicians.

“Learning to communicate with patients and understanding their story is a huge part of medicine that gets overlooked,” Dr. Bonnell said. “Doing service learning projects gives them the opportunity to meet their patients outside of the hospital setting and understand them as people. That way when they see them in the hospital they have a better perspective on how to provide care.”

BOOTS ON THE GROUND

In the spring, Reid and a group of medical students began helping Stanley revitalize the community garden to prepare for a summer harvest. Students planted tomatoes, peppers, squash, onions, greens and a few marigolds around to help keep the bugs away.

“We know how busy that they are studying for them to take time and come and help us it makes my heart warm,” Stanley said.

Through the Service Learning & Community Engagement curriculum Reid was able to apply to the medical school’s Social Impact Program and receive a grant from the Brumley Fund to purchase new gardening tools, pots and soil for the garden.

“That’s all for this community to benefit from,” Reid said.

He plans to help Stanley create an irrigation system and, hopefully, a little greenhouse to have year-round planting at the garden.

“But right now it’s just getting the garden prepped and showing commitment to being involved in this community,” Reid said.

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and Trimble Tech High School Cook Up Program to Help the Community

Burnett School of Medical students line up for some delicious food from the Culinary Arts Program at Trimble Tech High School.

FORT WORTH – For people who live in the 76104 ZIP code, access to health care and healthy foods can be difficult and may result in health challenges. 

Beginning this Fall, medical students from the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University and students from the Culinary Arts program at Trimble Tech High School will partner up to create a program to help with those challenges. 

“I am proud that I can help and give back in this way,” said Chef Hao Tran, Instructor of the Culinary Arts at Trimble Tech High School.  “If we can provide residents with nutritional guidance and help them to be healthy this will benefit the community.” 

Here’s how the partnership will work. Burnett School of Medicine at TCU students will teach the high school students about certain health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, or heart failure.  They will then work together to create affordable meal plans for patients in the community who deal with those conditions. 

“We know that healthy eating along with exercise is more important to long-term health than just about anything,” said Ric Bonnell, M.D.   

Trimble Tech High School is literally across the street from Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s new medical education building named Arnold Hall.   

Bonnell is excited about the partnership, which is possible thanks to the Rebecca Brumley Service Learning Endowment Fund. 

The program will be beneficial to the medical students, Dr. Bonnell says, and will help them “understand that health is more than prescribing medicine or seeing patients at a hospital, but it’s also about interacting with community members and what makes them healthier.” 

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Welcomes the Class of 2028

FIrst-year medical students received their white coats at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth on July 13, 2024.

 FORT WORTH – The Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University welcomed its sixth cohort of 60 new medical students on their medical education journey with two weeks of focused curriculum and a White Coat Celebration.  

“We are thrilled to welcome our sixth group of Empathetic Scholars® and future physicians,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., the Founding Dean of the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “This group will begin their medical education journey in our brand new medical education building in the heart of Fort Worth’s Medical Innovation District (MID) just steps away from all our clinical partners. This group has a distinctive opportunity to learn to practice medicine with empathy and amass deep medical knowledge from physicians and patients in our community.”  

VIEW CLASS PROFILE HERE

More than 6,590 applied to be one of 60 medical students selected for the class of 2028. The first-year medical students represent 18 states with more than a quarter from Texas. There are also eight students that graduated from TCU. Fifty-seven percent of the class self-identifies with one or more of the three school-defined diversity domains: race/ethnicity, LGBTQ, or socio-economic limitation.

Founding Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University White Coat Celebration July 13, 2024.
Founding Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D.

First-year medical student Sylvie Inkindi was selected by her peers to represent the class of 2028 at the White Coat Celebration. Inkindi worked as a Public Health Microbiologist with the Los Angeles County Public Health Lab before coming to medical school.  

“We may have taken different paths but we all find ourselves here today finally donning our white coats.,” Inkindi said. “This moment represents the culmination of years of hard work but it also marks the beginning of a lifelong commitment to the noble profession of medicine.” 

Every year, white coat ceremonies are held by medical schools across the United States. New medical students receive their short white coats signifying the beginning of their journey to achieve the long white coat, when they are physicians, according to the American Medical Association. 

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU students received their white coats at TCU’s Legends Club at Amon G. Carter Stadium in front of faculty, staff, family, and friends. The medical school puts its own twist on the traditional celebration by having family members gather around each medical student to help them put on their white coat for the first time. 

Floyd Wormley Jr., Ph.D., Interim Provost, Vice Provost for Research, and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at TCU, served as a guest speaker at the celebration. Friends and family will be essential in supporting students through the arduous journey of medical school, he added.  

“You will encounter many challenges on your journey and you have the opportunity to discover solutions to vexing problems,” Dr. Wormley said. “Don’t be afraid to battle the unknown to look for better treatments and cures. You can be the one who takes on these challenges whether in the lab or in the clinic. A doctor’s task is all about discovery. At TCU, we emphasize that by encouraging students to innovate and become life-long learners.” 

The Burnett School of Medicine graduated its second class of medical students in May. The school’s novel Empathetic Scholar® curriculum prepares students to be compassionate physicians with a breadth of medical knowledge to tackle rapid advances in medicine. 

The medical school’s bold mission is to transform medical education by emphasizing communications training,  partnering students with patients and physicians from their first day through the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship model, and world-class simulation and technology training using the Microsoft HoloLens® and HoloAnatomy® mixed-reality learning experience. Students are also challenged to become life-long learners capable of critical inquiry through the Scholarly Pursuit & Thesis (SPT) four-year research project that every student is required to complete upon graduation.  

“The way we’ve designed this forward-thinking curriculum puts our medical students at the forefront of medical innovation,” Dean Flynn said. “They will be equipped with unique skills to deliver patient care now and into the future while having the ability to adapt to new medical advances as they arise.” 

TCU Chancellor Discusses Vision, Innovation Behind Arnold Hall in Final Episode of On-Site Building Video Series

Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., and TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini, Jr. at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

FORT WORTH – Construction has been completed on the new 100,000 square foot medical education building for the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth’s Medical Innovation District (MID).  

In episode 13 of On Site: Construction of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University hosted by Founding Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., he’s joined by TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr., to discuss the medical school’s lasting impact on TCU and Fort Worth. 

“My hope is that 30 years from now when people want a doctor they say I want a doctor that graduated from the Burnett School of Medicine,” Chancellor Boschini said. “This school will elevate the entire university.” 

The pair took some time to walk through the building that is TCU’s first education building to be constructed away from its main campus on South University Drive. The 4-story building has been named Arnold Hall thanks to a major gift that established The Ashley and Greg Arnold Endowment for the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  

Dean Flynn was able to give Chancellor Boschini an up-close look at some of the personal touches. 

“One of the things I first learned about Chancellor Boschini when I arrived at TCU is how he takes a very personal interest in building and the architecture,” Dean Flynn said.  

For Chancellor Boschini, it’s more about making sure TCU is visually present. 

“When you see this building from the street I want somebody to think this is the TCU campus,” Chancellor Boschini said. “It has the arches. It has the Ludowici tile on the roof. It has the blonde brick. It just screams Texas Christian University.” 

The building was designed by CO Architects alongside Hoefer Welker and constructed by Linbeck under the guidance of TCU Facilities Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) team. Construction crews broke ground on the medical education building in August 2022 and completed the building in June 2024.  

The building will serve as an academic hub and support 240 medical students, along with hundreds of faculty and staff. The school’s location in Fort Worth’s MID will strengthen the collaborative partnerships it has already with Baylor, Scott & White All Saints Medical Center, JPS Health Network, Texas Health Resources and Cook Children’s.  

“Our students are within walking distance of all of our clinical partners but now as our partners are letting us know they can wander over here now so it really is bi-directional and quite amazing,” Dean Flynn said.   

The collaborative model for medical education training is also an advantage for the medical students, Chancellor Boschini added.  

“You’re talking to and learning from someone who’s actually doing it,” Chancellor Boschini said.  

Inside the building, technologically advanced learning spaces, which TCU is known for on its main campus, are present in the new medical education building.  

The first floor of the building houses the two-story Amon G. Carter Inspiration Commons. It is two classrooms separated by a sky fold wall in the middle that also doubles as a whiteboard. The 7,000-pound retractable wall can open the space into one large classroom to support 120 students. The walls of the learning studio are projection walls that are coated with special paint to allow a projector to display images on the walls.   

“These are smart classrooms and have all the technology needed to train the next generation of physicians,” Dean Flynn said.  

The Burnett School of Medicine’s forward-thinking curriculum trains future physicians as Empathetic Scholars® who will be compassionate, empathetic and prepared to discover the latest knowledge in medical care and have the ability to “walk in a patient’s shoes. The medical school, which welcomed its first class of medical students in 2019, has graduated two classes of physicians that have matched in some of the nation’s top residency programs.  

The new medical education building will not only position TCU to be a leader in medical education, but also make Fort Worth’s healthcare community stronger.  

“It’s exceeded every expectation I had and I think it’s already been a huge boon to Fort Worth,” Chancellor Boschini said.  

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Awards Highest Honor to Graduating Students

Class of 2024 Gold Humanism Honor Society members at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

FORT WORTH  –  Fifteen students from the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University are the newest members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). 

It’s the highest honor a student can get from Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  What makes the honor so special is that students are voted on by their peers based on several scenarios. 

Burnett School of Medicine became eligible to add a chapter once the school became fully accredited.  The class of 2024, which was recognized in May, was the first Burnett School of Medicine at TCU class to get this prestigious honor.  Members are Emma DiFiore, ’24 M.D.; Jack Healy, ’24 M.D.; Anne Shirley Hoselton, ’24 M.D.; Antonio Igbokidi, ’24 M.D.;Patrick Powers, ’24 M.D.; Thomas Redman, ’24 M.D.; Sam Sayed, ’24 M.D., and Rebecca Sobolewski, ’24 M.D. 

“It’s so humbling to be in the same category as my classmates,” said Igbokidi, a psychiatry resident at UCLA. “We’re all doing the work and I’m just privileged to be a part of the Burnett School of Medicine family.” 

The class of 2025 had seven students receive this honor. They are Claire Duican, MS-4; Jason Evans, MS-4; Peyton Moore, MS-4, Sofia Olsson, MS-4; Kyung Park, MS-4; Lexy Richards, MS-4, and Anand Singh, MS-4. 

“It’s one of my most memorable accomplishments in medical school and also one of my most special moments,”  Olsson said.  “I was honored to have my classmates, who I respect so much, vote for me.” 

“I think when you are looking at a Gold Humanism Honor Society member you are looking at someone who can provide compassionate care,” Singh said. “For them to recognize my hard work is a huge deal to me and something I’ll never forget.” 

GHHS is a community of medical students, physicians, and other leaders who have been recognized for their compassionate care.  There are more than 180 chapters at medical schools and residency programs and more than 45,000 members, according to the GHHS website. 

Faculty member Ric Bonnell, M.D., said this is the number one recognized honor in medical school.  “This is something that the students will benefit from.  It will help them with interviews and residencies.” 

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s Floating Grand Staircase Brings Building’s Design to New Heights

Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University's floating, grand staircase.

FORT WORTH – In Episode 12 of On Site: Construction of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University hosted by Founding Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., we learn about the design of the grand staircase that boasts terrazzo flooring, a design staple across TCU’s education buildings. 

The grand staircase begins in the Forum area of the first floor in Arnold Hall and spirals up four floors, wrapped in glass, with scenic views of Downtown Fort Worth’s skyline.  

Dean Flynn is also joined by Robby Carruthers, Superintendent at Linbeck, to discuss the 22-month construction process of the new medical education building located in Fort Worth’s Medical Innovation District (MID).  

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Students Help Local Communities Embrace Healthier Lifestyles Through Community Impact Projects

 

FORT WORTH – On a pleasant Sunday morning, a long line formed outside the Greater Rising Star Baptist Church in Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood where church members put down their Bibles and picked up blood pressure cuffs.

Sofia Olsson, MS-3 at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University, was one of the medical students providing blood pressure screenings and checking patients for diabetes outside the church. 

With no pharmacy close by to get blood pressure readings, the services really helped this neighborhood.  “It also gave them some inspiration on how to better care for their health,” Olsson said.  

This kind of community interaction is all by design.   

It’s a part of the Preparation for Practice (P4P) curriculum that medical students at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU begin from the moment they start medical school.  In their first year, students are partnered with local communities that include Eastside/Stop 6, Northside/Diamond Hill, and Como.  

Throughout their time in medical school, they volunteer and interact with community members to learn what issues affect them the most.  During their third year, students present a Community Impact Project that highlights an issue community members deem important.  

“Joining these communities and helping create a plan, then helping bring that plan to fruition is very special and very fun,” Olsson said.    

Mental health, sports physicals, and cancer awareness are just a few issues students have tackled alongside community leaders over the years. Thanks to generous donors more of the projects will become reality. 

“This really shows us who we are serving in the community and it really brings out our passion and empathy,” Olsson said. 

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s Global Health Elective Provides Lifelong Lessons to Students

FORT WORTH – As part of the Global Health Elective, several  Burnett School of Medicine at TCU students made the long trip across the globe to Kenya and India to get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn from physicians of a different culture.   

The objective of these trips is to expose students to how medical care is given at a facility in a developing country. 

“My goal for students is for them to improve their skills and empathy,” said Ric Bonnell, M.D., Director of Service Learning at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  “So having that experience of trying to practice medicine in a resource poor setting helps you not take for granted the things we have here.”  

Students were able to participate in daily inpatient rounds, outpatient clinics, ICU and emergency room management of patients.   

“Having these kinds of experiences opens your eyes and gives you a lot of cultural competencies,” said Hari Raja, M.D., Executive Director of Phase 1 at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  “We see people from all over the world here in the U.S. and having that experience in seeing a different culture can really help you.” 

Raja led a group of students to Bangalore, India for a month-long elective in January. Christopher Fernandes, ’24 M.D., Michael Krantz ’24 M.D., and Prema Vyas ’24 M.D., spent time seeing patients and gaining experience at Bangalore Baptist Hospital.  They all witnessed how doctors in India handled serving patients with limited resources. 

“I’m very grateful to the school and Dr. Raji for setting this course up,” said Christopher Fernandes, ’24 M.D. “There were a number of students who went on this trip and were significantly impacted by it and it’s going to change how I interact with all of my patients.” 

The same can be said for students Sarah Person, ’24 M.D., Nicole Jamieson, ’24 M.D. and Madeline Keane, ’24 M.D. who spent a week at Ubuntu Clinic in Maai Mahui, Kenya. 

Despite having limited resources, the students said they were impressed with how the doctors in Kenya were still upbeat and happy when it came to treating patients.  

“I think this trip will really impact my future,” said Sarah Person, ’24 M.D.  “I have an appreciation for what a blessing it is to have this medical knowledge and to be a physician.  It’s all modeled at the fact that there are so few physicians in Kenya, and we were able to help.”