“I cut my eye when I fell, and I had to get stitches at the hospital. During the process of getting my stitches I was just intrigued by what I saw there. They had models of organs and diagrams with different systems of the body. I was maybe 6 or 7 and it was really interesting to see what was on the inside of my body and it intrigued me.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU?
“Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s vision is different. They really seek to create Empathetic Scholars®. We are training physicians, not just to be knowledgeable, but to treat people like people.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you?
“When I was at boarding school, I was a Health Prefect. If there were any health issues on the boys side of the school, I was the point of contact to give the first aid required and contact a nurse or doctor. It was such a fulfilling experience.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey?
“I look forward to attaining a career as a surgeon who treats patients first and medical conditions second.”
“I’ve been in the shoes of the families that we see at the bedside begging for more time with their loved ones. I remember when I was little, I just put all my trust in the physicians and team, and I wanted to be that person for other people.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU?
“I chose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU because during the interview I was able to be myself. When they accepted me, I had so much support. I loved getting in clinics early and having the same patients for three years. Everything about the school drew me to it.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you?
“I have perfect pitch. So basically, any sort of note, I can tell you what note it is. If I hadn’t gone to medical school, I probably would have went to Broadway and tried to make it.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey?
“I’m eager for this next step as we get into the weeds of your specialty. I will be applying Internal Medicine. My dream has always been to be a professor. So, I want to teach and help people and help students. That’s ultimately where I want to end up.”
Why do you want to be a doctor? “I was really tossing around the idea of doing a Ph.D. program or pursuing an M.D. and going to medical school. My grandmother actually got into medical school in 1971, and she turned it down to have a family. After having conversations with her and my family I found the confidence to do it, not just for me but for them as well and it motivates me.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU? “Right away, I was really excited about it. The small class size and the accelerated curriculum, all those things were obvious to me. But once I went to Second Look Weekend, I got the feel and culture for the school itself, and I was just blown away. Everyone knew my name which mattered a lot to me. It’s really a culture of collaboration and respect which I think is important in a medical school.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you? “I played the oboe all while growing up. It’s a combination of a flute and clarinet. So, I was in orchestra, and I played in Europe with one of the orchestras I was in. I played in college and one of my friends made this big piece on Spotify and I was in a recording studio, so you can listen to me playing the Oboe in Spotify.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey? “We are spending time with patients and that’s going to be amazing for us and I’m excited. Then we’ll figure out what we want to do, using the electives to figure exactly what doctors we want to be, so I’m super excited about that.”
The Class of 2025 had a 100% residency match and will begin their medical careers at revered health care systems such as Johns Hopkins Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Stanford Health, and the Mayo Clinic.
The medical students took the traditional Hippocratic Oath at TCU’s Van Cliburn Hall at Megan and Victor Boschini Music Center on Friday, May 9 during the Hooding Ceremony, signifying the successful completion of the M.D. degree program.
“We have worked with these newly minted physicians for four years to instill medical knowledge, empathy, and compassion,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., Founding Dean of Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “We are proud of them, and they are prepared for this challenge. I am hopeful that their future patients will be fortunate to have them as their physician.”
The keynote speaker was J. Mack Slaughter Jr., M.D., an Emergency Medicine physician at Texas Health Resources and founder of Music Meets Medicine, a nonprofit organization. He has also gained popularity on social media as a MedFluencer that has amassed more than one million followers on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tik-Tok.
Prior to becoming a physician, Dr. Slaughter had a career as a musician, touring with Beyonce’s former group, Destiny’s Child, and opened for Jessica Simpson and Bon Jovi. He also pursued acting before attending medical school.
“Medicine is a calling for some people that represents empathy, compassion, and healing,” Dr. Slaughter said. “I want you all to carry that empathy and caring nature with you into each hospital room you walk into and meet with patients. You will be there to help them, but they will also be able to help you become a better physician.”
The day capped off with the medical graduates participating in TCU’s Commencement for graduate degree programs with acclaimed filmmaker Taylor Sheridan who received an honorary degree.
COMMENCEMENT 2025: STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
Isabella Amado, M.D.
Hometown: Panama City, Panama
Program: Virginia University School of Medicine
Specialty: Orthopaedic Surgery
Most people would say getting into medical school and graduating to become a doctor is beating the odds twice. However, this is the third time Isabella Amado, M.D., has beat the odds doing something most people dream of doing.
“At one point, I didn’t think I was going to make it because it is very difficult,” Dr. Amado said. “To see that I accomplished what little girls’ dream of is still surreal.”
That once in a lifetime experience planted the seed for her next career as a physician. As an undergraduate student athlete at Boise State University, she experienced her own setbacks with injuries on her road to becoming an Olympian.
“Through gymnastics, I worked with orthopaedic surgeons and that was my big exposure,” Dr. Amado said. “They loved what they did so that drew me to that field.”
Once she became a medical student, she explored other medical specialties through the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC). LIC partners medical students with physicians from their first day in medical school.
“By my second year, I decided I was pretty committed because I had seen other specialties and nothing really was as fun as orthopaedics,” Dr. Amado said.
Orthopaedics is a wide-ranging medical and surgical specialty focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system. Orthopaedic surgeons can treat injuries such as foot and ankle, hand surgery, shoulder and elbow, spine, trauma and fractures, musculoskeletal oncology, and physical rehabilitation.
Aside from fun, Amado added the problem-solving aspect of orthopaedics as something that attracted her to the medical specialty.
“I like that type of thinking where there’s a problem and you know how to fix it you just need to align the bones back together,” Dr. Amado said. “It’s not always like that, but I like that kind of mentality.”
However, there is another side of orthopaedics when sports medicine is involved that requires empathy. Medical students at the Burnett School of Medicine are taught communication skills through the Physician Communication curriculum that spans across their four years of study.
Amado dealt with her own injuries as a gymnast and had moments when she felt like her Olympic dreams wouldn’t happen. She wants to be the type of physician that can relate to injured athletes in their darkest moments.
“It’s a nice complement to have that skill going into orthpaedics,” Dr. Amado said.
Alexandra Richards, M.D.
Hometown: Healdsburg, California
Program: UCLA Health
Specialty: Orthopaedic Surgery
Finding your calling in life can happen as you get older and gain more life experience. However, it can also happen at the age of 7 on a small farm in Northern California, according to Alexandra Richards, M.D.
“I had my goat break his leg and my little hometown orthopaedic surgeon teamed up with my small hometown veterinarian and they let me scrub in for the surgery to fix my goat’s leg,” Dr. Richards said. “I was like: ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’”
From that moment, Dr. Richards set her sights on becoming a surgeon.
“The reason I love orthopaedics is that you’re getting people back to their life,” Dr. Richards said.
Her path to orthopaedic surgery began in nursing. She completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University and later received her Doctor of Nursing from Duke University School of Nursing.
She admired the care that nurses gave to her family members growing up in Healdsburg, California. Even though nurses and physicians take two different educational paths into health care they work together, Dr. Richards added.
“I realized they were really the hands taking care of patients so for me going into nursing was a choice,” Dr. Richards said. “I had the option of medical school earlier and nursing was an important pivot because I stood by the philosophy of nursing.”
She spent several years assisting in neuroscience research and built her herself into a strong medical school candidate. Her pivot from nursing into medicine was fueled by her desire to do something surgical.
“That belongs to the field of medicine so becoming a surgeon is something you only train for in the philosophy of medicine,” Dr. Richards said. “I think nursing is beautiful, but I also think being able to exhaust every option for your patient surgically is really special.”
Now, she will head to UCLA Health Orthopaedic Surgery for residency as an Empathetic Scholar® from the Burnett School of Medicine carrying an innovative mindset.
“There’s a lot of ways I want to take what I learned here and be innovative,” Dr. Richards said. “I want to rebuild limbs someday, which I think will be an interesting intersection of the neurosciences and orthopaedic surgery.”
The seeds for Lauren Holladay, M.D., to become an orthopaedic surgeon were planted long before she was born.
In the 1970s, her grandfather was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), which is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine and pelvis, according to the National Institutes of Health. He was one of the people to have modern day hip replacement surgery in the United States that had been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in 1969.
“That was actually my family’s first time coming to the United States,” Dr. Holladay. “So that seed was planted that my mom had to travel to the United States for my grandfather to have his hip replacement surgery and that planted her seed to come back. It’s like a full circle moment.”
Dr. Holladay’s family eventually immigrated to the U.S. from Panama. She was born in Richmond, Texas, and as a child her grandfather would often share stories about his experience with hip replacement surgery and how it improved his quality of life.
“I always saw my grandfather having these great strides of the future of medicine,” Dr. Holladay said. “He’s 95 and still walking on that 1970-something hip, which is insane.”
Her path to being an orthopaedic surgeon started after getting her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University. Her first health care job was in Bryant, Texas, as an emergency room medical scribe at St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital.
She enrolled at University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio and completed her master’s degree in biomedical science before becoming a medical scribe at an orthopaedic clinic in Austin, Texas. That’s when she learned how orthopaedics also correlated to her other passion, which is nutrition.
“I find so much joy in the quality-of-life aspect of medicine and with orthopaedics and nutrition I loved seeing patients gain that joy for themselves,” Dr. Holladay said.
Once she became a medical student at the Burnett School of Medicine, she was laser focused on going into orthopaedic surgery but also started a culinary medicine student interest group.
“Both things represent not just being a physician but also to help people find a fix and get their quality of life back,” Dr. Holladay said.
Now, she plans to spend time learning and researching ways to improve the quality of life for her future patients at UT Health San Antonio.
“There’s going to be people who break things no matter what but my whole goal is to help people not have to go to the hospital,” Dr. Holladay said. “I want my patients to feel reassured that if they fall, they’re OK.”
The Burnett School of Medicine opened in July 2019 with its inaugural class of medical students. The medical school’s unique curriculum with a focus on communication and the development of Empathetic Scholars® has uniquely positioned the school to radically transform medical education and improve healthcare for generations.
“I was sick with Malaria a lot as a kid and the doctors treated me and attended to my needs. I was part of the lucky few that did get access to health care, so knowing that some didn’t have the access to health care like I did really impacted my decision to pursue medicine.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU?
“Burnett School of Medicine at TCU really captivated me and has values that I hold dear to my heart. The community aspect was important to me and when I came on my interview, I met a lot of people, and I liked it. They want to get to know you as a person. It kind of feels like home.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you?
“I actually wanted to be a kindergarten teacher when I was a kid and that’s because I had positive experiences with my teachers and I really liked kids.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey?
“One of my biggest whys is to show people that if someone like me can do this you can too. I eventually want to go back home and start some kind of free clinic to provide care for the people in the community who really need it.”
FORT WORTH – Navigating the complexities of medical school curriculum and staying organized has become simpler for students at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.
First-year medical students were invited to chat with developers of VidaNovaVLE™ (Virtual Learning Environment), an innovative educational platform developed by Fenix Alma Solutions Inc., that they use to manage everything from class pre-work to their clinical rotation schedule.
Zacharia Ismaio, MS-1 at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, asked the developers if they could implement a more in-depth search function to find specific resources faster.
“That’s the cool part about the meeting because they said, yes that’s coming soon,” Ismaio said. “It really goes to show that they’re really doing this for us as medical students. I think that kind of tailored view for the platform is really going to help us in the long term.”
Fenix Alma Solutions Inc., a vanguard in educational technology, announced their partnership with the Burnett School of Medicine in 2023 to use VidaNovaVLE™ as their learning management system. It has a detailed suite of features including a robust Learning Management System (LMS), more than 15 interactive activities, innovative exam delivery, and a unique Taxonomy Management solution.
There’s always a new update to give the students more control of how they learn, Ismaio added.
“As a student, you feel like you have control and you’re able to navigate something as big as medicine in bite size pieces,” said.
The tools in VidaNovaVLE™ facilitate a deeper understanding of medical principles and practices, optimally preparing students for their medical professions, said Jo Anna Leuck, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Burnett School of Medicine.
“Incorporating VidaNovaVLE™ within our curriculum gives our students the vital skills and knowledge necessary to become Empathetic Scholars® and thrive,” Dr. Leuck said.
“VidaNovaVLE™ is our home base; it has everything we need,” said Martha-Grace McLean, MS-1 at Burnett School of Medicine. “I think the use of it is very future forward and having the ability to adapt it to our specific curriculum.”
The partnership took a forward-thinking approach to how the Burnett School of Medicine developed its unique Empathetic Scholar™ curriculum that has Practicum/Clinical Modules that align with the medical school’s Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC), according to Dr. Leuck.
For example, the platform creates checklists for students as they complete pre-work and resources while preparing for class.
“My favorite thing about it is after you’ve completed a resource it will mark it as done,” McLean said. “It’s very gratifying to see.”
VidaNovaVLE™ enables students, faculty, and administrators to interact with course content dynamically, thus creating increased comprehension and retention of knowledge. The partnership also allows for students to give feedback directly to Fenix Alma Solutions Inc. developers and medical school faculty managing the platform.
“This is something that you’re not going to get at any other medical school,” Ismaio said. “It makes sure that you’re optimizing every second of your day.”
“Street medicine focuses on the care of people on the streets,” Capper said. “Because of the nature of the population that we serve, we can see changes in that dynamic. We can try and be an advocate for them and address the complications that they live and make a difference.”
The panel also featured Chad Holmes, D.O., and Joel Hunt, P.A., of JPS Hospital. Their Street Medicine team is on the frontlines of providing care to the unhoused population in Fort Worth and Tarrant County.
“I think servitude is important in street medicine,” said Hunt who is the Director of JPS Street MedicineProgram. “In street medicine, we are dealing with people who are vulnerable and marginalized. I think it’s critical we approach patients from a place of service so we can give them the help they need.”
The Jacqueline Ann Chadwick, MD, Servant Leadership Keynote Lecture and Panel is funded by the Jacqueline Ann Chadwick, MD Servant Leadership endowment, which was created to provide faculty development in servant leadership. Chadwick helped mold the mission of servant leadership and transforming health care by inspiring Empathetic Scholars® at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.
Students are doing their part to make sure servant leadership is at the heart of what they do.
“We do events on Lancaster where the homeless shelters are,” said Andrew Goh, MS-3, who is the President of the Street Medicine Student Interest Group at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “We provide utilities and care, medical checks and items for hot weather and cold weather that they may need. It’s extremely rewarding to help those who are in need.”
The exercises sparked lots of laughs and reactions, however, it’s serious business when it comes to the potential impact to the future physicians’ patients.
“It’s a way of teaching a set of skills and how to engage with others in unpredictable and spontaneous situations. It also helps when it comes to communicating across groups for resolving conflicts.”
As part of the curriculum, medical students from the class of 2026 gathered at Arnold Hall to participate in the exercises designed to promote active listening.
“A lot of times when you walk into a room or a situation you don’t know where that conversation is headed,” said Cort Ewing, MS-3.
“I think it’s important because it gives us the skills to guide those conversations and create connections. It’s important for the patients because they’ll feel like they are being heard.”
Research shows this improv technique helps with self-confidence, ability to resolve conflict and identify what’s happening in a fast-paced environment. It’s also helping physicians deal with burnout.
“There is a lot of morbidity amongst practicing physicians, a lot of burnout,” said Howard Silverman, M.D., professor of Biomedical Informatics, Family Practice and Medical Humanities at College of Medicine-Phoenix.
“If we can do this early while they are still students, we can foster some habits that will help them.”
Silverman was joined by members of his team from the College of Medicine-Phoenix. Three local improv specialists were also on hand to help show students how improv works and acted out different scenarios.
“I look forward to applying what I’ve learned,” Ewing said. “I really hope to get some good skills out of it that I can take with me during my career.”
“Throughout my youth, I was exposed to medicine because my dad is a Gastroenterologist, and my grandfather was a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. It really inspired me to want to help others. I did some volunteer work globally and saw poverty for the first time, I made a promise to myself that I would do more global health work and help make a difference for those who need it.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU?
“I really like the fact that we get early hands-on experience in the clinics. When we apply for residency, we’ll have so much more experience dealing with patients and providers and understanding what a clinic is like. I just can’t say enough about the quality of teaching that goes on here at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. I feel grateful to learn here and learn from experts in their field.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you?
“I’ve always enjoyed pushing myself physically and mentally. I got into running and I’ve done half marathons and even ran in the L.A. marathon. It was really fun, and I hope to run more marathons in the future.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey?
“After medical school, I hope to pursue a career in Orthopedic Surgery. Right now, I’m making connections with mentors and getting involved with research. I also want to carry on with global medicine. That means advocacy work, volunteering and going abroad and helping those who are in need.”
“The first thing that I can think of that planted the seed in my head to be a doctor was finding out that my mom struggled with fertility. She had endometriosis. As I got older, my mom shared with me about how alone she felt in her diagnosis. Just knowing how she was feeling throughout that, it made me want to do better for other people who are receiving these hard diagnoses and having to make these big life changes.”
Why did you choose the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU?
“This school has a very innovative curriculum, and they really emphasize physician communication. We also learn how to be an Empathetic Scholar® and go beyond just practicing medicine to connect with people. That along with the curriculum really drew me.”
What’s one thing your classmates don’t know about you?
“I do Muay Thai kickboxing weekly and it’s a really good way to destress from medical school. I feel like it’s helped me a lot when dealing with clinics. There are a lot of skills there that I feel like have transferred over to medical school.”
What’s next for you in your medical journey?
“It’s exciting to be in rotations that are more align with your specific interest. I am very interested in Gastroenterology, so I’ll also be applying Internal Medicine for residency and I’m hoping to stay within DFW. My hope is to one day be a Gastroenterologist.”
