Lessons from a farm carry over to a nontraditional path to medical school
The path to medicine is rigorous, but for one graduate student in UNT Health Fort Worth’s College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, it has also been uncertain and shaped by experiences far outside a classroom.
Born in Lubbock and raised in West Texas communities including Midland, Jeff Brown began his college career at Colorado State University. But after some challenges and taking a leave of absence, he found himself searching for direction.
That search led him to a somewhat unlikely place: farming.
What began as a way to do something different turned into a three-year journey across seasonal farms. Brown worked with sheep and lambs, raised vegetables and learned the daily realities of agricultural life. The experience offered meaningful work but also brought its own kind of hardship.
Lessons in an ‘intuitive sense of responsibility’
At times, Brown faced housing instability and food insecurity through his journey. Despite those challenges, he continued moving from farm to farm, learning new skills and taking on greater responsibility.
One of Brown’s earliest lessons came during lambing season. A spring thaw arrived early while temperatures were still freezing, creating difficult conditions for newborn animals. Later, on a vegetable farm, he discovered that something as simple as watering seedlings required constant attention and intuition.
“At one of the farms I worked at, I had a daily task to water the seedlings,” he said. “This ended up being the daily task that I struggled with the most, as the seedlings were very sensitive to drying out, over-watering and physical damage from the water pressure. In addition, the seedling trays did not dry out in an even pattern, as edges and corners were more prone to drying than the middle.
“Nearly every day the farm owner would have to pull me aside, tell me what I did wrong, and add another variable to the task's growing complexity,” Brown said. “Eventually, however, I stopped trying to keep up with the growing list of rules for watering seedlings and instead took a simpler approach. I started focusing on simply asking myself if I really felt like I was taking care of the seedlings that day. Could I really put my name on my work, had I really taken responsibility for their well-being? That was a really important lesson that still applies in a broader sense. It has helped me take a simpler but less-defined responsibility when preparing for exams, working on research, etc.”
The lessons Brown carried away were about more than agriculture tasks. Farming taught him what he describes as an intuitive sense of responsibility, not simply completing a checklist, but honestly asking whether he had done right by the living things in his care.
“Farming and managing seasonal work required me to make my own judgements regarding whether or not something was done right,” he said. “There was not always someone checking my work, and there often was no safety net. A few times I made mistakes and fell pretty hard, including moments where I experienced a loss of housing and food insecurity.”
“However, eventually I started making it a habit to come to my own conclusions about whether or not something was done right,” he said. “For me, this meant using my own judgement, making my own conclusions and developing a more intuitive sense of responsibility.”
That mindset eventually followed him when he went back to school.
Brown returned to college intending to study psychology but soon fell in love with biology. He completed his undergraduate studies and later earned a master’s degree in biology at the University of Texas Permian Basin. Although research initially seemed like a possible career path, he realized his interests were leading elsewhere.
Medicine now has become his goal.
Today, Brown is completing his first year in a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences - Medical Science program designed to mirror the first year of medical school. He has chosen to remain for the optional second year while completing an internship at Cook Children’s Medical Center. The program has strengthened his medical school candidacy after he previously stepped away from the traditional application process.
Now, Brown spends most days studying in the library as he prepares for the next step toward applying for medical schools.
A look back at lessons learned
The journey has not been without obstacles for Brown. Financial challenges, including bankruptcy, tested his resolve. Yet those experiences also shaped his perspective, particularly toward young people growing up in communities such as Midland.
His long-term interests include pediatric intensive care and pediatric oncology, fields that combine scientific complexity with the opportunity to care for children and families during difficult moments.
When asked what advice he would offer others pursuing medicine through a nontraditional path, Brown’s answer is simple: persistence matters more than speed.
“You can do anything, but it’s a matter of time,” he said. “If you can’t get through medical school the first time, there are programs where you can get experience. It comes down to time and consistency.”
That philosophy reflects the lesson he first learned in the fields years ago: growth rarely happens all at once. It comes through careful attention, believing in yourself and the willingness to keep showing up.