Commitment to excellence and service leads to recognition for TCOM student
When Kathryn Adkins started volunteering at Cook Children’s Medical Center in 2017,
she wanted to make an impact on patients’ health. But it was the power of human connection
she found while engaging with patients that would drive the next 10 years of her journey
toward becoming a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
“I started volunteering at Cook Children’s through their junior volunteer program and I fell in love with every patient and family interaction that I had there,” Adkins said. “That’s when I knew that medicine was for me.”
Adkins, now a third-year student at UNT Health Fort Worth’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, also knew she did not have to wait until graduating from medical school in 2027 to start making a difference. With a vigorous sense of purpose, she got a head start on her medical career by dedicating more than 1,200 hours to volunteer service in the next eight years, helping more than 100,000 patients and their families through a wide assortment of programs and services at Cook Children’s including the emergency department, pain-management yoga therapy, spiritual care, the Child Life Zone, the Cook Children’s Health Care System Leukemia Symposium and Camp John Marc — an affiliated camp that serves campers living with chronic medical and physical challenges.
Adkins emphasized the importance of being present in those moments with patients and listening to them. “It all goes back to the human connection,” she said.
Recognition for leadership, service and excellence
Adkins was recently honored for her commitment to service and excellence, receiving
an exclusive scholarship that’s given to a single student from a graduate program
in Texas, who demonstrates the spirit of service and perseverance through leadership
and academic achievement.
“Kathryn Adkins exemplifies the heart of compassionate medicine through her extraordinary academic excellence, leadership, and over 1,200 hours of volunteer service,” said La’Cresha Moore, vice provost for student affairs. “Kathryn’s impact is already profound, and her future as a physician promises even greater transformation.”
A Division of Student Affairs employee nominated Adkins for the scholarship.
Adkins also received the Platinum TOUCH (Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health) Award, given to the student at each college of osteopathic medicine who has volunteered the most service hours. Kathryn contributed a total of 394 TOUCH hours during the 2024-2025 school year alone.
“I am deeply grateful that our school and this scholarship have taken the time to recognize my contributions,” Adkins said. “This recognition reinforces my commitment to making a positive impact on our community and my journey toward becoming a pediatrician.”
This year, she was also awarded the Above and Beyond the Call of Duty award by Cook Children’s for the second time, honoring her compassion and commitment, and was nominated for Volunteer of the Year for 2024.
“Volunteering has shown me that medicine is more than procedures and prescriptions,” Adkins said. “It is presence, persistence, and the ability to meet people at their most vulnerable moments and still offer hope.”
However, providing relief and comfort to patients is only one of three service areas to which Adkins has dedicated her time and energy.
The second involves supporting the next cohort of medical students.
Mentoring future medical professionals
When she was in high school, Adkins attended a camp for students interested in careers in medicine. There she discovered the power of human connection again in the validation she received talking to the volunteers.
“It was really inspiring being able to talk to medical students,” Adkins said.
She was impressed with the way they listened, identified with her situation, and reassured her about the journey ahead.
Then as a pre-med student, Adkins was paired with a mentor who was a student at TCOM as part of the school’s Medical Mentorship Program. “Motivated by the support I received, I promised myself to lead as many pre-med camps as possible and mentor future medical professionals,” Adkins said.
Adkins has kept that promise, having designed the curriculum and taught four pre-medical camps, engaging with around 200 high school students, the majority of which qualified as underrepresented minorities in medicine. She has also mentored at least 10 undergraduate students while at UNT Health through TCOM’s Medical Mentorship Program, coaching them on the MCAT, pre-medicine classes, and medical school applications, as well as conducting mock interviews and reviewing their personal statements.
“I hope to encourage them and show them that passion and perseverance can truly make a difference in medicine,” Adkins said.
Adkins is also an OMM teaching assistant, helping first-year TCOM students learn osteopathic manipulative techniques, skills and clinical applications.
Educating the community
Then there’s Kathryn’s fervor for “spreading community awareness by teaching people
about preventative medicine.”
She has designed and taught lessons and activities for Fort Worth ISD to encourage students to adopt healthy habits early on.
“I am passionate about educating the community––whether in elementary or high schools––about the health system, the body, and how everyday choices impact well-being,” she shares. “Teaching students about the power of gratitude, the mind-body connection, and preventative health is central to osteopathic medicine and to my approach as a future pediatrician.”
Leadership and campus involvement
Even with the intense amount of volunteering, Kathryn still finds time to remain actively involved in UNT Health campus life. She has held leadership positions in multiple student organizations, serving as past president of the Christian Medical Association and past vice president of the Pediatrics Club. She has helped with community service projects for both, including a CMA medical mission trip to help Haitian refugees in McAllen, Texas, in 2024, and the Pediatric Mobile Clinic where she has administered vaccines and collected patients’ vital signs.
She has also coordinated opportunities for other students to come together for meaningful community involvement, such as the upcoming Bone Marrow Swab Drive this September conducted in collaboration with Earl Young’s Team to raise awareness and find potential bone marrow donors.
A celebration for a love of serving
From delivering PrayerBears to patients at Cook Children’s, to teaching early adoption of healthy habits to kids in Fort Worth schools, to mentoring future medical professionals, Adkins sees her dedication to volunteer service as an extension of the passion that drew her to medicine in the first place.
And helping people through volunteer service reminds Adkins of why she is committed to becoming a doctor.
“Every act provides support and care, contributing to holistic healing,” Adkins said. “As a future pediatric neuro-oncologist, my greatest goal is to improve the quality of life for children battling brain cancer and to support their families through some of their most difficult moments.”
“Until then, volunteering allows me to have a positive, meaningful impact right now,” Adkins adds.
“Kathryn’s journey—from mentoring future healthcare leaders and advancing pediatric care research—is a powerful testament to resilience and purpose,” Moore said.
This scholarship and the other accolades Adkins has received this year represent a celebration of her resilience, her leadership, and her drive to use her education to make a meaningful impact.
“I am so thankful for all who have guided my medical school journey and for opportunities I have been given to complete service and research projects,” Adkins said. “I strive to pay it forward by mentoring future physicians, enhancing pediatric care, and engaging with the community to build healthier futures for children and families.”