Bethany Werner had hopes of becoming a physician since she was in elementary school. Fast forward 20 years, and she not only achieved a childhood dream, but received UT Southwestern Medical Center's oldest and most prestigious student award, the Ho Din. Read story

---

Transcript

- [Narrator] Bethany Werner knows what it takes to succeed.

- [Bethany] My parents told me to give 100% in everything I did.

- [Narrator] A lesson in perseverance that put her on a path to becoming a doctor. From a young age, this Dallas native had a love for medicine.

- My first exposure to medicine was through my dad, he's a retired now, paramedic and firefighter. So he would come home and tell stories about cases that he'd seen, patients that he'd worked with.

- [Narrator] At just 14, she quickly found out what it was like to be a patient.

- When I was in high school my left lung collapsed twice and it required two different hospitalizations and then the second time I had surgery.

- [Narrator] Two years later, she was surrounded by physicians again. This time, comforting her mother, diagnosed with cancer.

- Being on the other side and kind of the vulnerability that you feel gave me a little bit of a unique perspective.

- [Narrator] Another unique perspective Werner had was being a student athlete in college. She went on to play volleyball at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she graduated magne cum laude.

- So I got a degree in biology, I was a part of the UT-PACT program.

- [Narrator] Which made for an easy transition to UT Southwestern Medical School.

- [Bethany] I look back to where I was in MS1, like how much I've learned from the attendings and residents and everyone here. I feel like the growth that I've experienced here has just been wonderful.

- [Narrator] All of that growth over the past four years along with a 4.0 GPA was recognized by Werner's professors and mentors.

- I knew she was very impressive from when I first met her and she's only continued to impress me throughout the past two years that I've worked closely with her.

- It was hard for me to find words when I first found out.

- [Narrator] The 24 year old was chosen to receive the Ho Din, UT Southwestern Medical School's oldest and most prestigious student award, presented each year by the Southwestern Medical Foundation.

- It represents the most well-round and exemplary student, both academically and professionally. It's really the student that we always hope every medical student aspires to be.

- Just kinda feels surreal and I'm so excited and just very grateful. But to know that I was chosen to kind of represent our class with this award is also very humbling because my classmates are great and I think all of them would be so deserving as well.

- [Narrator] Bethany Werner is about to embark on another chapter at UT Southwestern. She recently matched in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program.

- From the very beginning I knew I wanted to be in a specialty where the patient physician relationship was one, built on trust, that it had an opportunity to become longitudinal to where I could see patients multiple times. I'm gonna do everything I can both academically, but also to support them with compassion, empathy, whatever it is they need.