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Brian Pfaning, an MSN student at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, has dedicated his life to public service, merging his passions for medicine and law enforcement throughout his dynamic career.

After graduating high school in the early ‘90s, Pfaning became certified as a paramedic, a role that ignited his passion for medicine. He dreamed of working as a flight paramedic, but didn’t have the experience needed at the time.

Seeking better financial stability, he decided to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Pfaning joined the Plano Police Department and earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice while working full time. He served for 18 years in various roles, including patrol officer, criminal investigator and homicide investigator. His medical background proved invaluable in these positions, allowing him to approach situations with a unique perspective.

“I never lost that fire for medicine,” Pfaning said. “Everything I did in medicine worked, and I knew I wanted to integrate that into my police work.”

As the landscape of policing grew more complex and tenuous around 2016-2017, Pfaning found himself at a crossroads.

“I felt like this is not where I’m supposed to be,” Pfaning said.  “But I was scared to leave. I knew I needed to do something new. I felt called back to medicine.”

Fearful yet motivated to explore new horizons, he decided to fully commit to his medical career.

At the age of 42, he went back to school to earn a second bachelor’s degree in nursing — while still working full-time as a police officer. He began his nursing career in emergency medicine at Methodist Dallas and critical care at Baylor Scott & White Heart Hospital in Plano.

Now Pfaning is living his decades-old dream as a flight nurse with CareFlight. He still carries a picture of himself when he graduated EMT school standing in front of a CareFlite helicopter as a reminder that it’s never too late to achieve your dreams.

“I always felt that if you really, really want something, you can put yourself in the right spot,” Pfaning said. “If something doesn’t feel right, maybe you need to pivot and you can be incredibly successful.”

In addition to his clinical roles, Pfaning has always had a passion for teaching. He has contributed to police academies and recently taught a critical care class at Parker County Hospital District.

“The way you get better is to teach others,” Pfaning said.

In the spring of this year, Pfaning attended an on-campus training at HSC. On the way home, he heard a radio ad about the new College of Nursing and the MSN in practice innovation program.

“It was a wink – like ‘hey, you’ve been thinking about this, maybe you need to think a little bit more about it.’ ”

What appealed to him about the MSN program is the wide range of career possibilities he’ll be able to pursue with the degree. Ideally, he’d like to focus on simulation, one of the program’s areas of concentrations.

“Because I work in EMS, I can help develop simulation for EMS specifically from the EMT to EMS to the nurse. I can bring people together in different ways. I get to do something incredible.

“It’s amazing how all those twists and turns have taken me on this path.”

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