Jennifer Mitchell, MD, (Medicine ’93) always dreamed of sports. As a child, she met Olympians in her living room and by high school and college, she was on the field treating student-athletes. She studied medicine. She dreamed of a chance to combine both.

When that dream came true, it took her to the world stage.

During Texas Tech University’s historic 2025 NCAA Women’s College World Series softball run, Mitchell served as the team physician. As director of the sports medicine fellowship, she trains the next generation of sports medicine physicians, while providing care for 10 TTU teams, working alongside a dedicated staff of athletic trainers, doctors, nutritionists and other health care professionals. Mitchell could be seen in the dugout just as anxious as the rest of the TTU’s softball fans — but for different reasons.

However, the team taking care of the team can’t just watch the games as fans.

“You’re there to take care of them,” Mitchell says. “It’s great fun to be able to also celebrate with them, but your ultimate responsibility is the health of the athlete, whatever they need and to help add to their competitive advantage. You have to stay focused on that.”

To work with athletes, there has to be unbreakable trust. The team physician, along with the athletic trainers, works with the athletes as early as pre-season training on their physicals and medical records to establish a relationship. With that trust, student-athletes know that if Mitchell makes the call they need to miss a game, she’s doing it with their best interest in mind.

To work with athletes, there has to be unbreakable trust. The team physician, along with the athletic trainers, works with the athletes as early as pre-season training on their physicals and medical records to establish a relationship. With that trust, student-athletes know that if Mitchell makes the call they need to miss a game, she’s doing it with their best interest in mind.

She has plenty of experience around athletes. In grade school, she got to meet some of the Olympians on the swim team while her family was stationed in Germany as part of her father’s government employment. Learning about what it takes to be an Olympian only further sparked her interest in sports and medicine.

Mitchell kept following her passion for sports. She was the student trainer in high school in El Paso, Texas and then studied sports medicine at the University of Texas at El Paso. To help pay for medical school and follow in her father’s footsteps, she joined the U.S. Army and treated soldiers worldwide.

Throughout her career, Mitchell has had mentors from team physicians to professors, but when she thinks back to her younger self, she realizes she has become the mentor she once needed. And there is one thing she’d tell that young girl meeting the Olympians: “Stick to your dreams.”