Brandon Mallory has an easy smile, a calm demeanor, and a good sense of humor. They will all serve him well when he graduates medical school and becomes Dr. Brandon Mallory.
"It's still pretty surreal," Mallory said.
Mallory blazed a trail of 'firsts.'
He is the first in his family to get a medical degree. He's part of the first medical school class at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. He's also the first African American male to graduate from that school.
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"Especially when it was only our class here, like our first year, just the 60 of us," Mallory said laughing. "It's like ok, I have to represent for all Black men in medicine almost."
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Black men make up less than 3% of physicians. That statistic has not changed much in decades.
"I think diversity is really important, especially in emergency medicine, but in all areas of medicine," Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Emergency Medicine Chair Dr. Terry McCarthy said. "Because patients want to see physicians that look like them and can relate to them on a deep level."
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Mallory will do his residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Emergency Medicine.
"In Emergency Medicine a lot of times we're seeing patients on the worst day of their lives," Mallory said. "Seeing someone light up and feel better just because I'm there to talk to them, I think that's a really powerful thing for people to see that representation."
Mallory worked as McCarthy's scribe before going to medical school and having his boss as a teacher. McCarthy offered Mallory a job if he wants to return to Fort Worth after his residency.
"Looking back, I have something I can be proud of," Mallory said.
