KCU graduate who found purpose in her darkest moment, now helps others through medicine
When Jenna Cook, DO, walks into a room, she brings with her more than just a stethoscope and white coat. She carries a second chance at life—a story forged in chaos, stitched together by instinct and powered by purpose.
A 2025 graduate of Kansas City University’s (KCU) College of Osteopathic Medicine, Cook didn’t always plan to be a physician, though it had once been the dream. After completing her undergrad, she put that goal on hold, unsure if she would ever pursue it again.
That changed on an October night in 2017, when she found herself caught in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
“Those are seconds that feel like forever,” she recalls. “For me, it was the reaction to just do something.”
What began as a fun night with family at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas shifted in an instant. Fifty-eight lives were lost. Hundreds more were injured. As bullets tore through the air and chaos erupted, Cook hid under the bleachers, unsure if the shooter was just steps away. In those harrowing moments, something inside her crystalized. The experience didn’t just reignite her interest in medicine—it made it feel urgent.
That night didn’t define her—but it did clarify her purpose. And from that moment on, she knew she had to become a doctor.
And do something, she did. Alongside her mother, a nurse, Cook sprang into action—applying tourniquets, loading victims into the backs of trucks and turning an alleyway into a makeshift trauma bay. That gut reaction to help in the face of unspeakable trauma changed the course of her life. It wasn’t enough to survive—she wanted to be equipped to save lives.
The seed of that moment planted in Las Vegas grew through years of hard work, volunteerism and reflection. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped medical education, Cook moved to Kansas City, where online classes, heightened stress and uncertainty surrounded her. Yet, amidst the chaos, she found clarity.
“I live life differently because I’m blessed to be here,” Cook said. “There are people that didn’t make it out. I did and that means everything.”
More than a doctor: advocate, educator, survivor
In Kansas City, Cook found a unique outlet to serve through Care Beyond the Boulevard, an organization that delivers health care directly to Kansas City’s unhoused and underserved residents, often in encampments, church basements or mobile clinics. For Cook, it was a window into what medicine can and should be.
“You’re able to focus on the patient. There’s no time limit. You ask how their day is, how they got here,” she explains. “That depth of care—outside of billing, outside of time pressure, reinstilled my ‘why.’”
Though her activism has evolved, Cook’s commitment to addressing gun violence remains a core focus. After working with March for Our Lives, she now channels her efforts into advocacy through education and systemic change.
“Mass shootings are a microcosm,” she says. “Everyday gun violence causes just as much PTSD and trauma—but it doesn’t make the headlines.”
Going in eyes wide open
As she begins residency in emergency medicine in Kansas City, Cook is stepping into the role with clarity, resilience and her eyes wide open. She knows the weight of this work. She’s lived it.
“I’m stepping into this role eyes wide open,” she says. “It doesn’t matter who you are—we treat everyone the same. That’s what excites me about emergency medicine.”
To see the KSHB news segment highlighting her journey, click here.