It wasn’t that long ago when Daniel Green-Moore walked the halls of Terrell High School. Green, who graduated from Terrell High School in 2018 and is now a first-year medical student at the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine, has nothing but praise for the opportunities afforded to him while a Terrell Tiger.
Green shared that he enrolled in Terrell ISD as a fourth grader at Dr. Bruce Wood Elementary School and that it was a pivotal turning point in his life. “I was able to participate in the Gifted and Talented program and later on I was able to take Pre-AP and Dual Credit classes and obtain my Associate Degree while still in high school,” he shared. “The classes I was able to take combined with the opportunity to be involved in extracurriculars like Band, Student Council, and Athletics helped to shape me into who I am today.”
While in high school, Green began to consider his career path and he distinctly remembers three moments playing a key role in his decision to become an orthopaedic surgeon.
The first was when his mom, LaKeyna Green, a twenty-year educator and retired Terrell ISD teacher, was diagnosed with a neurological disorder. The second was when he attended a presentation at Terrell High School and met Dr. Donald Arnette, the first African-American male to receive a PhD from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “I shared with Dr. Arnette that I wanted to be in the medical field, and he encouraged me to dream big,” he said. “I will never forget that conversation.”
The final moment that solidified his decision to enter the medical field was when he attended Career Day his senior year and met Dr. Ste’Von Voice, who was in medical school at the time.
“Dr. Voice took the time to share with me the path to becoming a physician,” said Green. “It was extremely helpful to have someone take the time to lay out each and every step I needed to take.”
After high school, Green attended Texas A&M University and majored in Nutrition with a minor in Neuroscience. Because he was able to obtain his Pharmacy Technician License while a Career Tech student at Terrell High School, he worked as a Pharmacy Tech at the University’s Health Center.
After he graduated from Texas A&M in 2022, Green pursued his Master’s Degree in Medical Sciences from the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Since the program was entirely online, he was able to work while in school— only now as a Patient Care Tech for Baylor Scott & White and later as a Medical Assistant for an Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Clinic.
It was during this time that Green began the year-long journey of studying for his MCAT exam. The grueling eight-hour exam is required of every aspiring medical student. Students must not only sit for the exam but also must score high enough to be accepted into medical school.
In August 2023, Green graduated with his Master’s Degree and began applying for medical schools. “Match Day” for medical schools is in February, but Green received a Pre-Match offer in January. “I was at work at the Sports Medicine Clinic and was on my way to grab a patient and received a phone call,” he shared. “Six people were on the other end of the line to offer me an acceptance into the University of Texas at Tyler Medical School. It felt like ‘Draft Day’ to me, and I dropped to my knees in tears.”
Now in his first year of medical school, Green shared that the eight-hour days can be intense. “It is gruesome,” he said. “I attend class, study, eat, sleep, and repeat, but I am so thankful for the teachers and coaches at Terrell High School who taught me to dream big and gave me an opportunity to succeed.
After medical school, his goal is to do his Orthopedic Surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota; and, after residency, he plans to further his education by attending a fellowship program to become a Total Joint Replacement Orthopedic Surgeon. Green’s dream is to obtain a fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in partnership with Harvard University.
In total, his journey to become an Orthopedic Surgeon will take Green fourteen years to complete. “This journey has taught me grit,” he shared. ”It is not enough to love something; you also have to have the grit to keep going. There will be ups and downs, but you have to keep believing that anything is possible.”