Every time TCU President Daniel W. Pullin walks through the doors of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine building on West Rosedale Street, there is one word that comes to mind: pride. 

After all, the medical campus has been years in the making. 

The Burnett School of Medicine at TCU opened its doors to faculty and students nearly two months ago ahead of the fall semester. Now, the university is preparing to officially welcome the public for a dedication ceremony Sept. 24. 

“I feel a lot of pride in what we have been able to do as a collective community, not just TCU,” Pullin said. “It’s been quite the journey, but an incredible success story at every turn.” 

Ahead of the event, the Fort Worth Report got an early look inside the Burnett School of Medicine building to learn more about the medical school’s features and how it is prepared to reshape Tarrant County.

‘Broaden our impact’

Before the Burnett School of Medicine welcomed its first class in 2019, the medical school was intended to be a public-private partnership between TCU and the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. 

But the two institutions split in January 2022 after neither school could find common ground on how to work together. In late February of that year, the newly christened TCU School of Medicine announced its new campus would be located on West Rosedale in Fort Worth’s Medical District. 

The medical school sits less than a mile from Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, Cook Children’s Medical Center, Medical City Fort Worth and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital. 

TCU named the medical school in honor of the late Anne Burnett Marion in July 2022 before breaking ground the following month. Construction was completed in summer 2024. 

“It’s been almost a decade since we recognized this was needed in our community,” Pullin told the Report. “It was an opportunity for us to broaden our impact as a university.”

Pullin said the Burnett School of Medicine also serves to economically grow Fort Worth as “we contribute to medical innovation.” 

“Part of the reason we located Burnett School of Medicine in the heart of the medical innovation district is so that we could connect in that ecosystem with so many other health care providers, innovators and entrepreneurs,” he added. 

TCU administrators previously said they expect the Burnett School of Medicine to create an estimated 31,200 jobs and have an annual economic impact of $4 billion by 2030. The school is also intended to generate more physicians to meet the growing population and medical needs of Fort Worth. 

Burnett School of Medicine receives nearly 7,000 applications each year for only 60 spots in its first-year class.

Peek inside Burnett School of Medicine

Driving down West Rosedale, it’s impossible to ignore the medical school campus, which stands at four stories and totals 96,000 square feet. 

Inside, the floor to ceiling windows fill the building with light. A floating staircase, wrapped in glass, begins on the first floor and spirals up to the top floor. Walking through the halls, not a peep is heard — some students are quietly studying for their upcoming exams. 

The building, known as Arnold Hall, supports 240 medical students and hundreds of faculty and staff in clinical sciences, family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. 

Pullin said it was important for the medical school to keep TCU’s architectural “aesthetic and physical look” to maintain a consistent brand.

The first floor of Arnold Hall houses the two-story Amon G. Carter Foundation Inspiration Commons Learning Studio. 

The studio consists of two classrooms separated by a retractable Skyfold wall in the middle. The retractable wall can open the space into a large classroom to support up to 120 students. 

The learning studio also features projector screens on all four sides of the classroom’s ceilings. Medical students will spend roughly 14 months in the room in preparation for clinical rotations, said Dr. Veronica Tatum, associate professor of medical education at Burnett School of Medicine. 

“We’re trying to get them ready, and this allows for teaching flexibility,” she said. “We like to have the students in groups and the space is nice, because I can walk around and listen.” 

Martha-Grace McLean, a first-year medical student, echoed Tatum’s words, believing the classroom space “simulates that teamlike environment that we’ll encounter later in our careers.”

The third floor of Arnold Hall houses the medical school’s anatomy lab as well as a simulation and technology area — all resembling a hospital. 

The technology area features Burnett School of Medicine’s artificial intelligence software used to deepen students’ medical knowledge. The institution uses Microsoft HoloLens and the HoloAnatomy software to provide students a virtual view inside the human body. 

“When I was in med school, I had just a book. Whereas here, one of our anatomy professors can lead a guided lesson with the HoloLens,” Dr. Adam Jennings, executive director of simulation, innovation and research at Burnett School of Medicine, said. “The best part about this is getting the three-dimensional relationship with the human body.”

Down the hall from the virtual reality equipment are simulation rooms where medical students can practice procedures such as intubation, CPR, ventilations and defibrillation on high-fidelity manikins. The manikins, which utilize artificial intelligence, can blink, talk, move and respond to questions. 

The simulation rooms can also be rearranged to replicate operating rooms, neonatal intensive care units and emergency departments. Students most recently conducted a mock demonstration to simulate responding to an emergency on an airplane, said Prescotte Stokes III, integrated marketing communications manager at TCU. 

The third floor also features clinical exam rooms, a student library and lounge areas dedicated for studying. 

Equipped with microphones and cameras, the exam rooms serve as spaces to practice patient interactions with paid actors who are trained to present particular diseases. The intention is for students to practice diagnosing patients, said Dr. Sandra Esparza, assistant dean of clinical curriculum at Burnett School of Medicine. 

Right next door, TCU faculty can monitor their students’ performances from viewing stations and return to the exam rooms where they and the actor share feedback with the students. 

“We debrief and go through what the student should have done, what could have been done differently, and all that,” Esparza said. 

While Arnold Hall at Burnett School of Medicine is young, Pullin knows the building is prepared to make a lasting impact in Fort Worth.

“I’m excited that (Arnold Hall) creates a visible reminder of the investment the community has made to continue to elevate the depth of health care as we work together to promote a healthy citizenry that can support jobs, strong families and a flourishing city,” he said. 

David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.

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