Archives: News

FORT WORTH – There’s a strong sense of community in Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood and Medical Innovation District (MID) that will be home to the new medical education building for the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University. 

In episode 7 of “On Site: Construction of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University with Founding Dean, Stuart D. Flynn, M.D.; Fort Worth City Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck, who represents District 9, known as the Near Southside, joined Dean Flynn for a tour of the neighborhood. 

“This is an area of the city that we’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth in the last 20 years,” Beck said. “We’ve gone from a lot of auto shops and industrial-type businesses to theaters and restaurants and stores up and down South Main and Magnolia streets.” 

Councilwoman Beck took Dean Flynn a few blocks away from the medical school’s medical education building on South Henderson and West Rosedale Streets to explore South Main Village, which is anchored by locally owned businesses on South Main Street. 

“This is one of my favorite areas of District 9 and one where I spend a lot of my free time,” Beck said. “I’m hoping TCU medical students enjoy it as much as I do.” 

The pair toured the Amphibian Stage, a theater on South Main Street, along with a visit to Morgan Mercantile, a family-owned shop that focuses on custom printed goods and merchandise experiences for brands, bands, and businesses. 

Thanksgiving is a time for gathering and celebrating traditions with loved ones.

Marisa Fat, MS1 at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, said Thanksgiving is a time for reflection.

“The most important thing about Thanksgiving is being thankful for what you have,” she said.  “Thanksgiving means being grateful for anything you have, big or small.”

What is she most grateful for this year?

“I am thankful for so many things, but if I had to limit it, first and foremost would be my family,” she said. “I’m also really thankful to be at a medical school that truly does care about its students.”

Second-year medical student Simar Goyal said Thanksgiving is the one day “where you learn to respect and be grateful for everything that is going on in your life and for all the little things when nothing is going right.”

“Every day in clinic, I am thankful for patients opening up to me, for patients trusting me, and the connection I get to build with the community members, classmates, as well as my faculty and mentors,” said Sofia Olsson, MS3. “I am thankful for so many things. But I am tremendously thankful to be here, and for the opportunity to serve others and be a physician.”

The winter holidays can be great, and often just what so many of us need. This time of year often finds us on the tail end of a season of work and life that has been busy, tiresome, and stressful. We need a break. We need some space. We need respite and renewal. Unfortunately, the default setting for fatigue, overwhelm, and stress (i.e. cortisol) is negativity and negative thinking, and we may unintentionally and unconsciously bring that tired, negative vision with us wherever we go. This does not create space. It does not provide rest. It does not revive. Based on how we are, not how things are, we miss the moments, the people, the experiences, and the opportunities that can be restorative, growth-promoting, and life-giving. Attributable to several thinkers, it’s been said that “we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” What do you see? What don’t you see? And what might that reflect about how you are and what you might need?

In Mark Nepo’s, The Book of Awakening, he tells the story of a teacher frustrated with the bitterness of his apprentice.

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water, and then to drink it.

“How does it taste?” the master asked.

“Bitter,” spit the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.

“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.

“No,” said the young man.

At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things… Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

Are you a glass or a lake? Do you first, or only, see the criticisms, the negativity, what’s wrong with everything? What comes from that? Really take some time to think through this.

Does the bitter taste of remaining a glass promote what you and I need most: expansion, growth, perspective, understanding, humility, compassion, and care? Does it illuminate what’s right, what’s working, the possibilities, the strengths, the solutions? Or does it propagate more negativity, more problems, and more hurt?

You and I, we can grow, we can expand our sense of things, we can be lakes. A foundational step, and one explicitly celebrated this holiday, is to practice savoring, gratitude, and thanksgiving.

As you move into the holiday season, consciously savor the experiences, the people, the food, the time off, the breaks, the weather, the parties, the fun, the deviations from the norm. Practice gratitude for the big things, the small things, the novel things, the mundane things, and the many things that make you, others, and life so unique and special. Gratitude acknowledged and expressed has many tremendous positive impacts. Empirically, gratitude nourishes, heals, and literally transforms the hearts, minds, and bodies of both the generators of gratitude and the receivers.

The far-reaching benefits of an attitude of gratitude reflect another truth of becoming a lake. A glass can only provide enough water for one drink. A great lake can provide water for so many more. As healers, life has called you to become a lake. Are you willing to do all that it takes to answer that call?

The strengths-perspective is founded on the wisdom that what’s right will fix what’s wrong. Look for what’s right. Savor it. Be grateful for it. And share your gratitude. In doing so, you will begin to grow from being a glass to being a lake, and this expansion will transform bitterness into something better, for you and every life you touch.

With gratitude and thanksgiving,

Craig Keaton, PhD, LMSW

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Director of Wellbeing

FORT WORTH – Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood, according to the American Red Cross.

That’s why the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University  recently  hosted a blood drive, hoping to bring awareness to the importance of giving blood.    

Approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the United States, according to the American Red Cross.

“Blood is something that is always needed and always in short supply.” said Ric Bonnell, M.D., Director of Service Learning at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  “You can’t stockpile 10 years worth of blood.  It’s a perishable commodity and then there’s many different blood types that needs to match the patient.  So, there’s always a national and international short supply of blood.” 

 The Red Cross says  one donation can help save more than one life.  This urgent need is one reason why Dr. Bonnell is wanting to host more blood drives.  

“We’re hoping to have it every three to four months at Burnett where our faculty and students are the ones that run it and donate blood.” 

Burnett School of Medicine at TCU is transforming health care by inspiring Empathetic Scholars, and a move like this is speaking to the school’s  mission. 

“It’s something that I want our students to experience and be a part of, the supply side of making sure that blood is available for the health care system,” Bonnell said. 

The American Red Cross says each year an estimated 6.8 million people in the U.S. donate blood.  If you would like to join them, log on to redcross.org and sign up. 

FORT WORTH, Texas (October 20, 2023) – Away rotations are two to four-week programs where fourth-year medical students in the U.S. can audition for a Graduate Medical Education (GME)/residency positions at a hospital or health care center. Although away rotations are not required to apply to a residency program, it gives medical students an opportunity to distinguish themselves from other candidates and make a lasting impression on residency directors.   

Sereena Jivraj 

Hometown: Plano, Texas 

Classification: MS-4 

Medical Specialty: Obstetrics-Gynecology (OB-GYN) 

Away Rotations: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California 

Growing up as the youngest of four siblings, Sereena Jivraj, MS-4 at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, never had the opportunity to be the big sister. 

“I always wanted to play big sibling or big mentor,” Jivraj said. “That played a role in me becoming a physician because I knew I would always have that big sibling role and have someone I could impart knowledge on.” 

Medical knowledge is currently growing at a rapid pace. As recent as 2020, it is estimated that medical knowledge doubles every 73 days, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). To make sure that knowledge is transferable, and sticky requires medical students to get more hands-on training with physicians early and often, according to Sereena Jivraj, MS-4 at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. 

“I was fortunate to be one on one with my OB-GYN preceptor for a long time,” Jivraj said. 

Students are paired with physicians from their first day at the Burnett School of Medicine . Jivraj also spent extra time with her Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) preceptor whenever she had free time. 

“Besides the traditional 20 weeks that we are with our preceptors I was able to follow her afterwards.”  

In their second-year, students get 10 weeks of inpatient hospital immersions and 40 weeks of clinical ambulatory rotations in 8 medical specialties (Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery). Each year, medical students in the United States are vying for residency positions at hospitals and health care systems during away rotations.  

Jivraj had already delivered 30 to 40 babies during her LIC experience prior to her away rotations. She was able to establish trust with her attending physicians very quickly, she added.  

 “They felt comfortable having me help them with deliveries in the operating room,” Jivraj said.  

The skills she sharpened during the LIC curriculum helped her take on more of a big sibling role while on her away rotations.   

“With residents and other learners I was able to impart the knowledge that I had received in this educational setting,” Jivraj said.    

FORT WORTH– A classroom filled with medical students drawing on poster boards might have given an observer the impression that the students were participating in an art class.

However, this burst of colorful creativity by the students was part of a process to tackle serious health-care issues. The students spent a week learning the principles of design thinking to focus on patient and provider needs, and to prioritize empathy.

“This allows them to use a different way of thinking,” said Stacy Grau, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.  “It’s a nice opportunity to explore your creative side.” 

A forward-thinking curriculum called Future Accelerators of Medicine and Beyond (F.A.B.) created by Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., the Founding Dean of Burnett School of Medicine TCU, exposes medical students to emerging concepts that could benefit them throughout their medical careers.  

Each academic year F.A.B. has four separate weeklong courses that focus on artificial intelligence, genomics, design thinking and assays of the future.  

Throughout the design thinking week, first-year medical students learned how to use ideation, prototyping and testing to solve health care issues for pregnant women and older adult populations. Specifically, the students were asked to find solutions to health, wellness, and activity levels for those two patient populations.  

“This year we really stressed the technology piece,” Grau said. “How can we use artificial intelligence? How can we use wearables? How can we use other aspects of digital technology?” 

The students were separated into 10 groups and met with Fort Worth-area community members to learn about their most pressing issues. Each group then presented  a concept poster that introduced a prototype and their ideas for a solution.  

“It’s a low fidelity prototype and a simple way for them to show what their idea is,” Grau said. “They also get an idea of what success can look like and also ways that it could fail.”  

FORT WORTH – Most medical students learn about the anatomy of the human eye through two-dimensional graphics.

Students at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University now have access to what one faculty member calls the “wave of the future” for ophthalmology.

“Right before you is a gigantic eye in a 3-D sense,” said Kevin Chao, MS-3, after using the new technology.

“It was like the Magic School Bus going into the little eye, it was pretty cool,” he said referring to the popular children’s animated TV series about science.

The new virtual reality training simulator called OcuSim, which was purchased by the Burnett School of Medicine through the Alcon Endowment for Ophthalmology Excellence, allows medical students an immersive experience and more insight into the human eye. OcuSim uses an Oculus headset that is designed for medical students to achieve mastery learning through deliberate practice.

OcuSim is the wave of the future, according to Adam Jennings, D.O.,  Executive Director of Simulation, Innovation and Research at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.

“Instead of having a book or a PowerPoint you have that immersive experience,” Dr. Jennings said. “That material is embedded so much deeper in your brain you can recall it for the majority of your career.”

Anuradha Khanna, M.D., Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Ophthalmology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, along with other collaborators developed OcuSim a virtual reality ophthalmic training simulator designed for educators to use in a classroom. It puts the students in a virtual environment with three-dimensional illustrations of the human eye. Students can look inside and interact with the eye structure. Each illustration has an array of colors and labels the important structures based on the lesson.

Dr. Khanna introduced OcuSim to third-year medical students at Burnett School of Medicine during a recent LEAPs session.

Simulation provides an environment for students to apply their knowledge and experience; safely build confidence in clinical and technical skills; and make decisions without actual risk to patients. Virtual reality is one way to connect with medical students on a deeper level, Dr. Jennings added.

“A lot of times medical education is not that progressive and we’re at the cutting-edge of that,” Dr. Jennings said. “You see the anatomy come to life and it cements that in your brain and makes that much more of an impact.”

Native American Heritage Month, which is celebrated the entire month of November, celebrates and honors the contributions and traditions made by those of Native American backgrounds.

“This month is an opportunity to take a moment and reflect on the land that we currently have been on for so many years and the life that we built here as a country,” said Paywand Baghal, a first-year medical student at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University. Baghal went on to say that it is important to reflect on who owns this land during Native American Heritage Month.

TCU acknowledges the many benefits, responsibilities, and relationships of being in this place, which we share with all living beings. We respectfully acknowledge all Native American peoples who have lived on this land since time immemorial. TCU especially acknowledges and pays respect to the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes; upon whose historical homeland our university is located.

Throughout the month, the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU will honor Native American health care professionals and their accomplishments.

Charles Alexander Eastman, M.D., 1858-1939

Susan La Flesche Picotte, M.D., 1865-1915

Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill, M.D., 1876-1952

Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail, R.N., 1903-1981

FORT WORTH –  Fourth-year medical students typically do away rotations at North American health care systems in a medical specialty they’re interested in to prepare them for residency programs.

“Our students have skills that are exportable outside of their local rotations,” JoAnna Leuck, M.D., Associate Dean of Educational Affairs at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University said. “We often get feedback that our students are advanced beyond their level of training, especially around how they communicate with their patients.”

The away rotations are two- to four-week programs where medical students can “audition” for a Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency positions at a hospital or health care center. Even though away rotations are not required to apply to a residency program, it allows medical students an opportunity to impress potential residency directors and stand out from other candidates.

Throughout the year, we’ll showcase away rotation experiences from some of our Burnett School of Medicine at TCU students.

Sam Sayed

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Classification: MS-4

Medical Specialty: Emergency Medicine

Away Rotations: Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Stanford Health Care – Palo Alto

As Sam Sayed, MS-4, Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, headed off to away rotations at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California, this past summer he felt prepared.

“This medical school has been a dream come true for me,” Sayed said. “Over the course of my career here, I had a two-and-a-half-year head start over traditional medical students.”

Sayed and his classmates began seeing patients during their first year of medical school in the Burnett School of Medicine’s Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) curriculum for 21 weeks. As second-year medical students, they had 10 weeks of inpatient hospital immersions and 40 weeks of clinical ambulatory rotations in eight medical specialties: Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery.

During that period, Sayed became drawn to emergency medicine and grew more comfortable talking to patients. He credited the medical school’s LIC for giving him an edge when he was asked to get critical information from trauma patients on his rotations.

“When I was on my aways it allowed me to blossom at a critical point in my career,” Sayed said.

FORT WORTH – During her first weeks of medical school, Whitney Stanton never imagined that she would become an Emergency Room patient.

“In one second, my entire life just flashed before my eyes and my life changed,” said Stanton, an MS-1 at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

“I did not think six weeks into medical school that I would break my arm.”

In late August, Stanton said she was driving through the intersection of White Settlement Road and Athenia Drive in Fort Worth where another car ran through a stop sign and hit her car.

Stanton’s sister, who was in the passenger seat, was able to get out of the vehicle, but Stanton remained stuck in the driver’s seat. She looked down at her right arm and saw her wrist twisted.

“I remember thinking I need an ambulance and I need to get to the ER,” Stanton said. “I told them bring me to the best hospital.”

She was taken by ambulance to Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth where emergency medicine physicians were able to get a quick look at Stanton’s injuries. Doctors determined that Stanton fractured her arm in multiple places and would have to undergo surgery. Her sister suffered minor injuries in the accident.

Coincidentally,  Terence McCarthy, M.D., the John M. Geesbreght M.D., M.S., FACEP, Chair of Emergency Medicine at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, was working that day at Texas Health Harris. One of his partners in the emergency department told him a medical student from TCU had been admitted for serious injuries.

“As soon as I walked in the door she said, ‘You’re the Chair of Emergency Medicine,’ ” Dr. McCarthy said. “Early on, I just want to teach the students that it really matters how much you care about your patients. I sincerely wanted to check on Whitney.”

The outpouring of support didn’t stop with Dr. McCarthy. Several of Stanton’s classmates rushed to the hospital to be by her side. The Office of Student Affairs at Burnett School of Medicine also jumped into action providing a care basket for Stanton and working on getting her special accommodations for class.

Student Affairs is a hub and connector for students and a place for students to begin their inquiries when “life happens,” according to Mary Beth Mercatoris, Ph.D., Director of Student Affairs at Burnett School of Medicine.

“It is inevitable that life throws our students curveballs where support is needed,” Mercatoris said. “Our curriculum is complex and exacting so as a student is healing from an injury many School of Medicine colleagues are here to support the student’s forward progression within the curriculum without a pause-out or stop-out when at all possible.”

Stanton had surgery on September 6 and her right arm was placed in a sling until it fully heals. Her classmates have given her rides to school and helped apply icepacks to her arm during class breaks.

“I fully know now that the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU fully stands by our mission of creating Empathetic Scholars®,” Stanton said. “It’s not only the students who stand behind that but everyone who’s associated with our wonderful community here.”

For Stanton, this experience has given her an in-depth patient perspective.

“I definitely have an idea of what it’s like to be the patient and go through an operation,” Stanton said. “In the future, I hope I can be a calming presence and comfort to a patient in that situation and give back to someone in the future.”