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FORT WORTH, Texas – A collaboration between Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth and the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine will create more than 150 new medical residency slots annually.

“We will be accepting our first class of residents in 2021,” said Mike Sanborn, MS RPh, FACHE, president of Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth.

The Graduate Medical Education (GME) collaboration will be a boon not only for the medical community in Fort Worth, but also for residents of North Texas as it helps to address a growing need for physicians in the Fort Worth area.

On February 5, physicians, journalists and community members packed into the atrium of the Andrews Women’s Hospital at Baylor, Scott & White – Fort Worth to get more details on the new collaboration.

View the news release (.pdf)

“I could not be more pleased and prouder of this collaboration and so excited for the opportunities it provides to our future graduates, as well as what it means for our City and community,” said Stuart Flynn, M.D., founding dean of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine.

In 2020, the ACGME-accredited program will interview and select its first cohort of medical school graduates, who will begin their residencies at Baylor Scott & White Fort Worth in July of 2021 in the areas of internal medicine and emergency medicine. The program will add residents each year, reaching a peak of more than 150 residency positions in the 2027-2028 academic year.

“New GME (Graduate Medical Education) slots in Fort Worth and Tarrant County are a critical need in our community,” Dean Flynn said. “While we have a new medical school that will produce great graduates, they need more opportunities for residency training close to home. This is a tremendous step in meeting the needs of our community.”

GME Fact Sheet (.pdf)

First-year medical student Kassidy Fretz, a native of Colleyville, said the possibility of having the opportunity to begin practicing medicine at Baylor, Scott & White once she completes medical school in 2023 would mean a lot to her.

“I’ve grown up in this community all my life and it’s super meaningful to be able to serve people in the community that you grew up in,” Fretz said. “The other reason is that I have my family here. That would mean I wouldn’t have to uproot my children from their schools and my husband from his job.”

Keeping medical students within the state to complete their residency is a big benefit for North Texas and the state of Texas as a whole as well.

In Texas, 59 percent of residents stay in-state after training, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.  If they attend medical school and do their residency in Texas, that number increases to 81 percent. This new collaboration is an academic-aligned program, allowing for competitive recruitment of top medical school graduates from Texas and across the United States.

The collaboration also marks a proud moment for Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price who has been one the biggest supporters of the medical school.

“I am so excited to see this collaboration between the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine and Baylor, Scott & White All Saints Fort Worth.  This is the kind of announcement we envisioned happening when the new M.D. school launched,” Price said at the announcement. “This partnership will ensure Fort Worth continues to attract and retain the best minds in medicine to keep our community healthier and also show the world that Fort Worth is a city where medical innovation is taking place.”

The Fort Worth M.D. School, which began with its first inaugural class of 60 medical students in July 2019, has been training the students with a new approach to medical education and care by creating Empathetic Scholars ™. They are doing that by infusing communications-based training within the curriculum with the Compassionate Practice™ team.

The medical students have also been partnered with physicians based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and have been working with patients since their first weeks of school through the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship.

Steps to Becoming a Doctor (.pdf)

The chance to possibly keep those relationships with local physicians and patients is a big plus for first-year medical student Brandon Mallory.

“Having done undergrad at the University of Texas at Dallas I have family and friends as a support system that can continue to support me through medical school,” Mallory said. “It’s also exciting for me and my classmates because we can continue the relationships we’ve built in medical school once we become full doctors.”

The program supplements existing graduate medical education in Fort Worth by providing more options for new physician graduates.

“The new affiliation will create a robust academic center in Fort Worth aimed at addressing physician shortages in the area and attracting and retaining the future generation of physicians,” Sanborn said. “Overall, this program will continue to emphasize Baylor Scott & White’s commitment to outstanding patient care, education and research, while providing more options for new physicians to live, stay and practice in Fort Worth.

Future programs will include OB/GYN, general surgery, anesthesia, as well as a transitional year program. Fellowship training programs in specialties such as cardiology, oncology, hepatology, and nephrology are also being considered.

“Prospective medical students and prospective GME residents will find a great collaboration for graduate medical education.  Our faculty will teach in their residency training – and their residents will have a key role in training our medical students,” Flynn said. “Together we will address the important challenges of medical education and ensure long term that we will have enough physicians in our community and the meet our goal of inspiring Empathetic Scholars™ in both medical school and graduate medical education.”

Prescotte Stokes III is the Integrated Content and Marketing Manager. You can reach him at p.stokes@tcu.edu 

FORT WORTH – If you come across someone wearing a navy-blue T-shirt with a bubbly, yet funky graphic on it around Fort Worth,  that is all by design.

“As a fan of the color blue when I saw that was the color they chose I loved it,” said Kyle Schneider, a first-year medical student at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. “Knowing a little bit about the history of Fort Worth I felt like it (the tee) connected us better.”

On November 5, the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine revealed the winning T-shirt design to its inaugural class of 60 medical students. The Fort Worth M.D. School collaborated with Texas Christian University’s College of Fine Arts on the T-shirt Design Contest in which TCU students created artwork that encapsulated the unique, innovative new medical school.

Sarah Inorio, a senior at TCU majoring in graphic design, won the contest with her “Funkytown M.D.,” bubble lettering design.  She was one of four graphic design students who were finalists in the contest.

“It was really cool to see the whole class of medical students and be a part of this,” Inorio said.

Jan Ballard, an instructor of design at the TCU Department of Design, teaches the professional recognition course where upper class students were encouraged to compete in the graphic design contest.

Ballard said she wanted the design to be something that would resonate with the medical students and with the City of Fort Worth.

“I collaborated with the Fort Worth M.D. School to create a contest where T-shirts would be designed with a mantra,” Ballard said. “The mantra that was selected was Funkytown M.D.”

If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it is entrenched in popular American culture. Fort Worth was first dubbed “Funkytown Fort Worth” by R&B and hip-hop performers in the 1980s, according to Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy in a 2017 column. The moniker “sustained the city’s rich legacy of blues and jazz, which crosses racial lines from saxophonists Ornette Coleman and “King Curtis” Ousley to writer-producer T Bone Burnett or singer Delbert McClinton,” Kennedy wrote.

When the popular disco/funk group Lipps Inc. released the dance club song “Funkytown” in 1980, R&B deejays started calling the city “Funky Fort Worth.”

“My mom who lives in Montana was a big fan of the song,” Schneider said. “When I showed her the shirt, her first thought actually was the song.”

In 2000, when the rallying cry of “Keep Austin Weird” was born, the quick T-shirt response was  “Keep Fort Worth Funky,” according to Kennedy’s column.

Inorio was aware of the history and it only took her a few sketches in her iPad to come up with the final design:  “When I saw, ‘Funkytown M.D.,’ I thought you can make it fun. You can make it bubbly and funky. Knowing it’s on T-shirts and people are going to be wearing them it’s pretty cool.”

The reference to jazz/blues/R&B/hip-hop strikes a chord with medical students who are embarking in a curriculum that blends innovation, improvisation, communication and technique.

“I am definitely excited because we all had been awaiting the T-shirts,” said Samantha Evans, a first-year medical student. “It’s also so comfortable so it’s something I’ll have in my wardrobe on a weekly basis.”

Prescotte Stokes III is the Integrated Content and Marketing Manager at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. You can reach him at p.stokes@tcu.edu

FORT WORTH, Texas – As costs rise, patients are demanding a bigger role in their health care.

A nationally recognized panel of experts says technology and communication will play key roles in patient satisfaction and personalized care.

“Our physicians and medical students need to be able to be compassionate in their communication,” Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., M.P.H., the assistant dean for narrative reflection and patient communication at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine said. “Technology cannot replace breaking bad news or the connection patients seek.”

Kaplan-Liss was part of a panel of health care industry experts who participated in the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine and TCU Health Care MBA forum on Wednesday, December 4 at Texas Christian University.

More than 250 people attended the panel discussion titled, “A Healthy Bottom Line: Improving the Patient Health Care Experience,” which was moderated by Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., founding dean of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, and Daniel Pullin, J.D., dean of the TCU Neeley School of Business.

Technology has helped streamline different types of businesses across the world.  In many industries it has helped reduce costs, increase productivity and curate new customers, but in health care it has had a slightly different effect.

“Technology is helping us with a lot of things like diagnostics and treatment,” Kaplan-Liss said. “Ironically though as we use technology more the art of medicine becomes even more important.”

Winjie Tang Miao, M.H.A, senior executive vice president and chief experience officer at Texas Health Resources, and Benjamin Isgur, M.P.Aff., FACHE, Health Research Institute Leader at PwC US in Dallas, joined Dr. Kaplan-Liss to discuss what’s important to patients as they navigate the difficulties of modern health care.

“Ultimately, it’s going to determine where patients go for their health care,” Kaplan-Liss said.

The first challenge in preserving the patient experience is a financial hurdle for many Americans.

This country is paying more per healthcare outcome than any other industrialized nation in the world, Pullin said.

“If you can’t afford proper care, you can’t be your best self,” he said.

The average single health care deductible in 2019 is currently $1,655, but that’s slightly more than double the average of $826 a decade ago, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“They are spending more out of their pocket and they want a better experience,” Isgur said. “They are also seeing how they are being treated in other parts of the economy. When they work with travel companies or their financial institutions everything is available to them on their phones. They want that also in their health care world.”

Health care providers are also seeing other companies try to fill those voids for patients in various ways. About 75% of consumers surveyed by Accenture in 2018 said that technology is important to managing their health. In that same study, 48% of health care consumers reported that they were using mobile health apps compared with just 16% in 2014.

“We’re seeing other companies coming in from outside of health care to provide a better patient experience,” Isgur said. “That’s why there’s so much importance being placed on providing a great consumer experience in health care.”

There are also additional costs, federal government regulation and the fact that major health care industries deal with highly sensitive data from patients, according to Miao.

“As Ben [Isgur] said during our discussion, ‘Health care is not the same as buying an iPhone there are different stakes,’ ” Miao said. “But I do think improving work flow, improving the experience for a caregiver and being able to extend the care we provide to other settings that technology will be an enabler.”

She also added that implementing new technology that assists clinicians and help them preserve their connection with their patients should be a top priority.

“Consumers don’t want a transactional experience anymore,” Miao said. “Where health care companies can build value is earning a lifetime of loyalty and trust from patients.”

What does patient satisfaction have to do with the bottom line in the health care industry?

“Patient satisfaction affects clinical outcomes, patient retention and medical malpractice claims,” Flynn said. “Patients who trust their doctors have better clinical outcomes.”

“On a local level I think it’s about meeting people where they are,” Miao said. “And providing care and support in that moment when they need it. While there’s technology and all these global trends ultimately healthcare is a very personal thing. So now the goal is to figure out how do we keep that personalization.”

Kaplan-Liss said this begins with a new approach to medical education for future physicians and more training for current practicing physicians.

“Compassion is empathy plus action, and we’re training our medical students to do this,” Kaplan-Liss said.

She is currently the nation’s first dean devoted solely to patient communication. Before joining the Fort Worth medical school, Kaplan-Liss previously served as founding medical director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science in New York state.

There, she developed the curriculum and led national and international workshops to educate students, faculty, and administrators.

“We’re all empathetic but what makes or breaks an encounter with a patient is whether you can show that empathy,” Kaplan-Liss said. “The moment is missed in 87 percent of encounters in primary care.”

Prescotte Stokes III is the Integrated Content and Marketing Manager at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. You can reach him at p.stokes@tcu.edu

 FORT WORTH  – The historic, inaugural class of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine brought “a new energy” to the community as they arrived for Welcome Week events.

“I think there’s something so special about being first,” said medical student Shanice Cox. “I think I will be able to shape a new energy in this school and the pathway we’re going too. So, I’m really excited.”

With a curriculum designed to transform medical education, this visionary medical school will focus on creating physicians who are compassionate leaders prepared for the future.

The Class of 2023 kicked off their first week at Texas Christian University with Founding Dean Stuart Flynn, M.D., who engaged with the 60 students in a private session.

The incoming students said the hourlong session gave them a safe space to ask him questions. “It was an incredible experience. I can tell that he truly cares about this medical school and he seemed so excited to work with us and transform health care,” said medical student Connor Rodriguez.

Afterward, the energy and excitement among the students was visible as they made their way to the third floor of the Brown-Lupton Union to take their official school photos. Although a few of the students had met each other during Second Look Weekend in April, for many, Welcome Week was the first time to meet their classmates.

“It was really exciting to see who got to come back,” Cox said. “They’ve all been so pleasant I feel like we’ll mesh really well as a class.”

The School of Medicine faculty and staff got their first opportunity to mingle with the students and their families during a lunch on the TCU campus.

“I’m so excited to meet them; it’s been such a long journey to get to this day,” Shawn Wagner, Business Operations and Facilities Manager for the School of Medicine said.

Lots of lively conversations between the students, their families and the faculty and staff filled the grand ballroom of the Brown-Lupton Union.

One conversation in particular had student Mckenna Chalman all smiles. She spoke with one of her mentors, Terence McCarthy, M.D., the chair of Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine.

“I’m trying not to focus on only being an emergency room doctor, but I worked as a Scribe for Dr. McCarthy so I’m so excited to have someone I look up too as a part of my formal medical education,” Chalman said. “My mom was also a nurse and worked in pediatrics so I’m trying to keep my options open…being in this room with so many accomplished physicians, I just feel like the sky’s the limit.”

Flynn made his first address to the entire School of Medicine faculty, staff and student body during the lunch.

As the students leaned in and looked toward the podium, Flynn commended the students for being risk-takers. He also reassured them that their medical training at the School of Medicine will have them ready for the changes in health care they will face as physicians.

“We are preparing you all to be the type of physicians we will need by 2030,” Flynn said. “You all will be pioneers in medical innovation and technology. You’ll be able to communicate effectively and compassionately with your patients and lead by example in the ever-changing health care industry.”

Introduction to UNTHSC

On Day 2, University of North Texas Health Science Center President Michael R. Williams, M.D., D.O., and Provost Charles Taylor, PharmD spoke to the students at breakfast

Williams told the students to be committed to helping reclaim the human element in medical care.

“Where else do you walk into a room, meet someone and within five minutes tell them everything about yourself with the trust that this person will take this information and help create a better life for you?” said Williams about the doctor-patient relationship. “It is a sacred relationship.”

Taylor echoed the same sentiment. He told the students that their four-year journey will be distinctive because of the School of Medicine’s promise to infuse innovation and teamwork into the curriculum every step of the way.

“We are here to improve the human condition,” Taylor said. “Help people live healthier, better lives. It’s such a meaningful, powerful reason to get up every day.”

Media from all across the Dallas-Fort Worth area came to UNTHSC to hear some of the stories students had to share about getting into medical school.

“It was exciting, and it really made us feel special,” Chalman said after speaking with Fox 4 News. “We all knew choosing this medical school was going to be different and to see all the enthusiasm the community has for us just makes us want to go out a do our best to contribute to the community.”

A community welcome

Fort Worth community members got a chance to meet the inaugural class at the Colonial Country Club on Wednesday morning.

Many prominent members of the local medical community were in attendance and the students were given a celebratory, ‘howdy,’ along with words of encouragement from Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.

In the afternoon, student were introduced to the school’s communications curriculum called The Compassionate Practice^TM.

This curriculum was one of  the reasons Shanice Cox chose the medical school.

“This dream has been in the makings for a long time for me,” Cox said. “When the staff came to Hampton University to give one of their talks about this I was just blown away. I said to myself, ‘I have to be here,’ this is honestly the type of place that I’ve been praying for.”

The Compassionate Practice™ is an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to build skills in awareness, listening, inquiry and engagement to foster exceptional connections between physicians and their patients, their teams, and their communities. It uses theatre pedagogy to train doctors to improvise, build authentic connections, and take responsibility for their audience.

It will also use journalism and narrative medicine techniques to train doctors to speak in a language appropriate to their audience’s understanding, Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., assistant dean of narrative reflection and patient communication.

“I was happy to see how engaged and interested they were and valued the importance of communicating with compassion,” Kaplan-Liss said. “Their attention to detail and getting it right in all the different scenarios we gave them was impressive. I told them we will train them to be great doctors no doubt about it. But everything is changing in health care and you can tell they are different than traditional medical students. They’re here because they understand the value of communication in medicine.” 

A pep rally

The Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena at TCU was decked out in purple, yellow, orange, green, red and blue. Those colors represent the six Learning Communities the students will be divided into with two Physician Development Coaches leading each community.

Dozens of School of Medicine faculty, staff and family members of the students waved colorful pompoms underneath pulsating strobe lights and clouds of smoke as an announcer introduced the coaches and their cohort of students.

“We didn’t expect any of this,” Connor Rodriguez said with a smile. “It’s so special to be a part of the inaugural class. The energy here is so great and we are just ready to hit the ground running and meet our patients and start building those bonds and relationships with them.”

The goal was to let the students know that getting into medical school and their arrival in Fort Worth is special, according to Danika Franks, M.D., assistant dean of student affairs at the School of Medicine.

“For some of them I think it kind of blew them away,” Dr. Franks said. “I think they enjoyed the fact that we want to celebrate them. We really want to celebrate these communities that we’re forming.”

The PDCs are all physicians from the Dallas-Fort Worth area that have been certified as coaches by the International Coach Federation.

This innovative and unique student experience is designed to foster a coaching relationship that will contribute toward student professional identity formation while providing an additional layer of support toward the student’s academic success.

“We want the students to understand the social mission of this initiative and how we’re going to relate to the Fort Worth community,” Franks said. “The program is here to support the students and help them grow. It really just kind of mirrors how much we believe and want to empower the students to embrace and be a part of their community.”

By Friday morning, things had calmed down as the students headed to Frog Camp, a daylong student retreat where they had the chance to reflect on the week. The students met with their PDCs and began to settle into their roles as medical students.

“It really eased us into beginning medical school and gave us a good idea of what to expect next week,” Chalman said. “It calmed our nerves and just showed us how excited everyone is to have us here.”

Twelve Dallas-Fort Worth-area physicians became certified coaches by the International Coaches Federation as part of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine’s Physician Development Coach Initiative.

“We set out to have practicing physicians trained as coaches” so the students would know that they could relate with their journey, said Jennifer Allie, Ph. D., senior associate dean of faculty affairs and development at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. “Also, the training will help us shift the focus off of the expertise of the faculty and focus more on the students’ needs and well-being.”

The School of Medicine has developed the PDC program that will pair each student with a coach and additional student team members. This cohort of coaches paired with students will serve as an integrated home within the school of medicine for students. This innovative and unique student experience is designed to foster a coaching relationship that will contribute toward student professional identity formation while providing an additional layer of support toward the student’s academic success.

The PDCs were certified as coaches during a ceremony at the TCU campus on June 26.

Through unique clinical experience, Fort Worth will become the classroom for the next generation of physician leaders. 

The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine is seeking Fort Worth and Dallas area physicians to help shape the future of health care by becoming a mentor in its unique patient-centric, progressive curriculum. 

The Fort Worth M.D. school is introducing the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) model as a four-year program. This is a program in which students will work with physician preceptors over time, developing relationships with patients and mentors in their first week of study and continuing throughout their medical school training. 

“In an LIC model, students have the opportunity to really become part of the healthcare team, gaining valuable experience as well as ongoing, individualized feedback on their patient care skills in a real-world setting,” said Stephen Scott, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Associate Dean of Educational Affairs and Accreditation. “It promotes the ability of students to build relationships with patients and to provide the care and connection we all strive for.” 

Other medical schools such as Harvard University and Duke University have used the LIC model to train some students in a year-long program. In Fort Worth, all 60 of the inaugural class will engage in the rich clinical experience for all four years. 

The Fort Worth M.D. school is seeking physician applicants to fill the important role of LIC Preceptor who will serve as mentors by establishing and expanding medical students’ ability to demonstrate empathy, compassion and excellence in patient care. 

The benefits of becoming an LIC Preceptor include: 

• Engaging and mentoring future physicians 
• Earning CME credits 
• Library Access to both TCU and UNTHSC 
• Life-long learning and development as faculty
• Teaching Reimbursement Contact MEDClerkship@tcu.edu for information on how to apply. 

Maricar Estrella, 817-735-2701, m.estrella@tcu.edu 

Sixty students will make history when they arrive July 8 at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, the nation’s newest M.D. school.

Adding to the academic offerings of both universities, this collaborative new medical school represents an expansion of health professions training in Fort Worth.  With a curriculum designed to transform medical education, this visionary medical school will focus on creating physicians who are compassionate leaders prepared for the future.

Sixty-percent of the inaugural class of the new TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine are women and 58 percent of the class self-identifies with one or more of the school-defined diversity domains.

With an impending national shortage of more than 120,000 clinicians by 2030 and an educational environment that hasn’t changed in more than 100 years, the ground-breaking Fort Worth medical school is training physicians as Empathetic Scholars^TMwho are compassionate, excel in new technology and can communicate effectively with their patients.

“We’re excited to welcome the next generation of physicians. Medical school is challenging, and the role of a physician continues to become more and more complicated.  We will inspire these students to be servant leaders,  pioneers in medical innovation and patient- and family-centered providers of care,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., dean of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. “As Empathetic Scholars, they will lead by example in a health care industry that needs their skills and leadership.”

The 60 students come to the School of Medicine from across the United States, representing 34 undergraduate colleges and universities, as well as eight graduate institutions. Here’s more about the incoming Class of 2023:

• 60 percent women; 40 percent men
• Average age is 24
• 100 percent have bachelor’s degrees from 34 institutions, including Baylor University, Brigham Young University, Emory University, Penn State, Rice University, San Diego University, Texas A&M University, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California and University of Texas at Austin. Two students graduated from UNT and 12 from TCU.
• 52 percent of the class comes from Texas. Other states represented are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
• One student is a triple major, several have double majors and nearly 30 undergraduate areas of study are represented ranging from sciences, social sciences and humanities, including a music performance major.
• 16 percent have graduate degrees, including three from UNTHSC.
• The average GPA for the inaugural class is 3.62, while the average MCAT score is 508.
• 58 percent of the class self-identifies with one or more of the three School of Medicine-defined diversity domains:
  • Race/Ethnicity: 20 percent of the class self-identifies as Black/African-American or Hispanic/Latino
  • LGBTQ: 10 percent of the class self-identifies with the LGBTQ community
  • Socio-Economic: 43 percent of the class represents the first-generation to attend college, attended community college, worked to support the family before the age of 18 or graduated from a rural-designated high school

Paul Dorman, chairman and CEO of Fort Worth-based DFB Pharmaceuticals, has generously donated the cost of tuition for the first year for the inaugural class, who will be known as the Dorman Scholars.

“The high percentage of students representing diverse backgrounds and degrees speaks volumes about our forward-thinking curriculum and admissions process,” said Tara K. Cunningham, Ed.D., associate dean for admissions and student diversity at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. “Our Admissions Committee worked tirelessly to choose these remarkable future physicians.”

The Class of 2023 will participate in Welcome Week, July 8-12, on both the UNTHSC and TCU campuses where they will meet faculty, staff and community members and participate in orientation activities. The students will begin their studies on July 15.

The unique private-public partnership between Texas Christian University and the University of North Texas Health Science Center will prepare students to be compassionate physicians, excellent caregivers and prepared to meet the challenges of the rapidly advances in medicine. By 2030, the annual economic impact of the medical school is estimated at $4 billion and the school is expected to generate about 31,000 jobs for North Texas, according to a Tripp Umbach study.

Maricar Estrella, 817-735-2701, m.estrella@tcu.edu 

FORT WORTH  – The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine has received a generous gift to establish the John M. Geesbreght, M.D., M.S., FACEP, Endowed Chair of Emergency Medicine.

The gift comes from John Geesbreght, the former Director of Emergency Medicine at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, and his wife Priscilla. The endowment was announced during the Endowed Chairs and Professorships Dinner on February 19 at Texas Christian University.

Terence McCarthy, M.D., the academic chair for emergency medicine at the School of Medicine was named as the inaugural recipient.

“It’s a huge honor to hold a chair that’s named after him,” Dr. McCarthy said. “He’s an incredible leader and really inspirational.”

The endowment event is held in the spring semester of each academic year to recognize and honor donors who establish TCU’s endowed faculty positions as well as the holders of those positions. Endowed faculty positions are among the most prestigious and impactful types of investments a donor can make and are one of the most revered traditions of higher education.

“Dr. Geesbreght is known as a visionary and a gifted operational thinker in emergency medicine. To have him endow our first academic chair is a great honor for our school as we strive to forge a new forward-thinking way of educating medical students,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., founding dean of the Fort Worth M.D. school. “Dr. McCarthy truly honors the spirit of this gift and will be a valued leader and role model as our school continues into the future.”

A graduate of the School of Medicine at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Dr. McCarthy completed his residency in internal medicine at UTMB.  An experienced medical educator, he was an associate professor of surgery in the division of emergency medicine at UTMB Galveston, and currently serves as a clinical adjunct professor for the Physician Assistant Studies program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

Dr. McCarthy is the Director of Emergency Medicine for Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth and was able to work alongside Dr. Geesbreght at the hospital for the last 20 years.

“He’s a natural emergency doctor and he’s been through it all. He’s a teacher and it just flows through his veins and shows through his level of understanding,” Dr. Geesbreght said of Dr. McCarthy. “To be an emergency guy, you have to be able to see things and fix things, but more importantly you have to be an advocate of the patient first. That’s what he is.”

Dr. McCarthy says Dr. Geesbreght inspires him to “go and conquer the world.”

“He makes you think you can do things that you didn’t know you could,” Dr. McCarthy said. “He just fertilizes your mind and makes you become creative and come up with ways to solve problems.”

Dr. Geesbreght, who received his medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, has been in practice for more than 45 years at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.

Working alongside Dr. Geesbreght in the emergency department has been more than just a working relationship, according to Dr. McCarthy.

“In many ways I look at him more like a father figure as far as medicine goes, but he is also a real friend to me,” Dr. McCarthy said. “In my toughest and most traumatic moments in life he’s been there for me.”

Fort Worth is now home to the nation’s newest M.D. School.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education awarded preliminary accreditation to the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, opening the doors for student recruitment. The first class of 60 medical students is expected in July 2019.

“I am so humbled and grateful to our community for rallying together to pave the way for this exceptional School of Medicine,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., the medical school’s founding dean. “We brought the right team together with the support of two excellent universities. Now, we can begin our journey to train the best physicians for the future.”

The innovative curriculum at the new School of Medicine focuses on developing Empathetic ScholarsTM, physicians who are able to “walk in a patient’s shoes” and who excel in the science of medicine. In addition, students will be prepared for future advances in medicine and will be life-long learners.

The School of Medicine will address cost, quality and work force challenges of today with an eye toward tomorrow’s health care. Starting in 2030, the annual economic impact of the medical school is estimated at $4 billion and the school is expected to generate about 31,000 jobs for North Texas, according to a Tripp Umbach study.

“The entire City of Fort Worth proudly stands behind this collaborative and innovative medical school,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “We are excited to not only watch as this school grows and becomes part of our community, but as it transforms our city and medical community.”

Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center joined together in July 2015 to form this new allopathic medical school. Classes will be held on both the TCU and UNTHSC campuses – and students will rotate through hospitals and clinics in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. This month, UNTHSC opened its new Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building, a $121 million facility with two floors devoted to the School of Medicine.

“The School of Medicine allows us to offer one of the most futuristic and comprehensive health care educations in the nation,” UNTHSC President Michael R. Williams said. “Together with TCU, we are creating a health care environment and a cutting edge curriculum that will define and produce the health care providers of the future that our community needs and deserves.”

The M.D. school will train future doctors to embrace and lead the rapid advance of technology in empowering health and delivering care. The two universities will work together to produce life-long learners and highly valued physicians.

“This marks a great day for three institutions: TCU, UNTHSC and Fort Worth,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said. “The School of Medicine has taken the lead on transforming our universities and the health care community. We are proud and thrilled to partner with UNTHSC in this endeavor.”

H. Paul Dorman, chairman and CEO of Fort Worth-based DFB Pharmaceuticals, has generously donated the cost of tuition for the first year for the inaugural class, who will be known as the Dorman Scholars.

Over the next couple of weeks, the School of Medicine will be working to achieve membership to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which will provide access to the American Medical College Application Service or AMCAS. Upon gaining membership, the School of Medicine will begin accepting applications in November. Prospective students can go to mdschool.tcu.edu/admissions for more information on the application process.

A team of accreditors from the LCME visited Fort Worth in June in preparation for making the preliminary accreditation decision. The school is awaiting approval from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

If you had walked into the room and seen her standing there, commanding the attention of her audience with her bright smile and engaging nature, you’d never guess the road she’s walked. Her energy and enthusiasm make it easy to forget she’s endured 21 surgeries, and there’s certainly no sign of the ileostomy bag lying discreetly underneath her dress as she moves about the room, giving her presentation. Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., has battled the impact of a severe case of ulcerative colitis nearly her entire life, but now, she’s making history as the nation’s first-ever medical school dean devoted entirely to patient communication.

“Practicing good medicine is extremely important, to be sure,” Evonne said to the room full of trainees, all interested members of the Fort Worth community hoping to get a first peek at the curriculum she’s written for a brand-new medical school, the Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine. “But what can make or break a patient’s experience, and ultimately affects the outcome of their health, is the way a physician communicates and empathizes with them.”

Evonne knows this all too well.

At just 17 years old, Evonne endured a four-month hospital stay to address severe inflammation and ulcers. Evonne’s case was particularly challenging, running the risk of perforating her large intestine. She and her parents were faced with impossible choices, but were encouraged when they were approached by a surgical team who said they had a “state-of-the-art” procedure that could prevent Evonne from requiring an ileostomy bag. Relieved by the notion that their daughter could avoid a childhood with a bag, her family quickly agreed to move forward with the surgery.

“Words matter,” Evonne told the room. “One medical term in a single moment changed the entire trajectory of my life.”

During the next 30 years, Evonne endured 20 more surgeries, all stemming from complications from that initial procedure when she was a 17-year-old. When she and her parents heard the doctors describe the surgery as “state-of-the-art,” they assumed it meant “latest and greatest,” “the very best option,” or “on the cutting-edge of technology.” What they didn’t know was, though the procedure had been performed successfully on adults, Evonne would be one of the few children to have this operation.

“I sunk into a deep depression,” Evonne said. “I was only 17 years old and rather than seeing my entire life ahead of me, I just saw this disease and all it had taken. I didn’t know how I could move forward and pursue my dreams when I was stuck in this cycle of illness and surgery.”

But a chance encounter with a fellow patient changed everything.

While recovering from her latest hospital stay, Evonne flipped on the TV to an NBC program called “This is Your Life.” The reality documentary series surprises featured guests by taking them on a journey through their life, narrated by family and friends. This particular episode was highlighting an NFL kicker named Rolf Benirschke who had recently made a triumphant comeback after battling ulcerative colitis and receiving an ostomy. Upon hearing the familiar diagnosis, Evonne immediately perked up and called her parents into the room just in time for the revelation of Rolf’s narrator: one of Evonne’s beloved doctors.

“That moment was a turning point for me,” Evonne said. “Here’s this healed and whole guy who is out there playing professional football after, not only enduring the same disease I had, but also receiving care from the same doctor that I was currently seeing. It gave me hope. If this is how his life turned out, maybe I didn’t have to give up on what I wanted for myself, too.”

Evonne and Rolf had the chance to meet when Rolf’s team, the then San Diego Chargers, was in Evonne’s hometown of New York City to play the Giants. Evonne’s family attended practice the day before the game and, despite their age difference, the two had an immediate connection, evident as soon as Rolf gave Evonne a delicate hug, knowing exactly how she felt recovering from her procedure.

“We compared surgeries, our pain, our fears and our thoughts,” Evonne said. “He told me how hard it was for him at first to take locker-room showers around his teammates with a bag hanging from his side, but understood that without the bag, he wouldn’t be alive.”

That empathy gave Evonne a new perspective: she could do it. It wouldn’t be easy, and her journey with the disease wasn’t over, but the kindness of this understanding stranger proved to her that she was still in control of her life.

Evonne went on to attend Northwestern University, graduating with a journalism degree. After years working as a young journalist for several nationally syndicated programs, including ABC News’ “Nightline,” Evonne decided to pursue her long-time dream of becoming a doctor. She graduated from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, completing residencies in both pediatrics and preventive medicine, while also receiving her master’s degree in public health from Columbia University.

Coupling her unique skillsets as both a journalist and a physician with her first-hand knowledge of life as a patient, Evonne has made it her mission to turn pain into progress. She teaches medical professionals how to communicate with patients clearly, effectively and with demonstrated empathy by using improv techniques, narrative reflection and the art of storytelling.

“I loved practicing medicine, but I knew I had walked this road for a purpose, and I wanted to make a greater impact,” Evonne shared with the room. “I knew if I could train doctors in the art of empathy, teach them how to stand in their patients’ shoes and communicate what was happening within their bodies clearly and concisely, that could positively affect untold numbers of people.”

There’s plenty of data to back up Evonne’s observation. Communication errors are to blame in 70 percent of adverse health outcomes, and that number is costly, resulting in more than 2,000 deaths and $1.7 billion in losses in the last five years alone.

Evonne surveyed the trainees about their best experiences with physicians and what specifically made those interactions memorable. A dozen responses from the audience ranged from “he held my hand,” to “I never felt rushed,” or “she asked me questions.” Interestingly, not a single person mentioned a medically specific observation.

Evonne can relate with each of these sentiments, recalling beloved doctors, like the one who appeared on the TV show with Rolf, as well as those who had every intention of delivering positive, effective care, but whether through poor training or personality differences, fell short.

“Most people are surprised to learn that empathy can actually be taught,” Evonne said. “It’s an attribute that’s certainly innate in some, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be developed and cultivated in others.”

Before joining the Texas Christian Univeristy and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine, Evonne served as the medical program director for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. She’s taken her knowledge on the road, conducting workshops for medical professionals around the country and has trained more than 8,000 scientists, physicians and other medical professionals in the art of empathy and communication over the last seven years. Now, she’s taking that knowledge and turning it into a formalized medical curriculum.

“To instill these attributes in physicians from the very beginning is an unbelievable opportunity,” Evonne said. “No other medical school that I’ve seen in the nation has a four-year communications curriculum woven throughout every course and every encounter, and the ripple effect of this is going to have an untold positive impact on the health care community.”

Evonne would know. After all, it was empathy from a stranger that inspired a high school girl to keep going.

Last fall, Texas Christian University hosted a two-day event to share details about the new medical school with interested members of the university community. Evonne spoke about her plans for the communication curriculum, and then departed for a trip home to New York City.

The next day, a colleague shared with Evonne that she ought to meet one of the attendees that had arrived late and missed Evonne’s presentation. He was the father of a current Texas Christian University student and was incredibly interested in the medical communication program, as he had been a chronic patient himself, struggling with an ulcerative colitis diagnosis that nearly robbed him of his NFL career.

It was Rolf.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Evonne and Rolf had each spent their careers working toward the same mission. Evonne, teaching doctors communication and empathy, and Rolf, developing patient support programs for pharmacy and medical device companies.

Since that day, the two have reconnected, sharing details of their independent work and hopes for the new medical school.

“Because of a kind football player who inspired me so many decades ago, there will be students today who benefit from the lessons we each learned as patients,” Evonne said. “I couldn’t think of a more perfect time for a reunion, and the reminder of how an empathetic gesture can change the course of not just one, but countless lives.”

Read the article as reported by NBC DFW.