Chiefs' Welcome
As the 2021-2022 Chief Residents, we would like to welcome you to the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency Program! Our residency program is in the heart of Dallas, Texas, a city that welcomes residents of all backgrounds and interests. Our mission is one of public service, community leadership, and education. Our faculty, residents, and staff rise to the occasion when our community is in need. When our city became the epicenter of the Ebola crisis, we organized to protect our citizens. When domestic terrorists attacked our citizens and police officers in 2016, we were there to care for them. And now, as we serve on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team responds once more to the call to service. Our residency program not only endures these tests, but flourishes through unity, resilience, and passion to serve our community. This is how we create our legacy.
Our home base, Parkland Memorial Hospital, houses a 110-bed Emergency Department. It is perennially one of the busiest in the country. Parkland is also home to numerous other top residency and fellowship programs which gives us the opportunity to learn from and work with premier physicians from all other specialties. It is a Level 1 adult trauma center and a regional pediatric and adult burn center. As Parkland serves as the Dallas County hospital, we are granted the privilege to care for the underserved.
Just walking distance from Parkland are Children’s Health℠ Children's Medical Center Dallas and UT Southwestern’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital . Children’s Medical Center Dallas is one of three Level 1 pediatric trauma centers in Texas, a PECARN research site, and home to world renowned Pediatric faculty. Clements University Hospital is a destination care facility for cancer, transplant, and cardiac patients. There, we rotate through the ED and CVICU, providing us with the opportunity to not only care for typical emergencies, but also manage LVADs, pulmonary hypertension, and ECMO.
Lastly, our program integrates numerous community rotations to sharpen our clinical acumen and polish our personal practice.
These unique training experiences build emergency medicine physicians that are exceptionally well-rounded, clinically competent, and capable of practicing emergency medicine in any environment. We have watched our peers grow into successful fellows and influential attendings across emergency medicine and its subspecialties.
We are excited for your interest in the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency Program. We each feel incredibly privileged to be here. We wish you the best of luck during interview season and look forward to meeting you!
What We Have to Offer
Cutting Edge Conference
We have conference every Thursday from 7:30-11:30 am. Residents are excused from clinical duties in all EDs during this time. Conference incorporates multiple modalities for learners including small group, case-based, and longitudinal high-yield lectures. We also work to deliver level specific content (i.e. 1st years receive more foundation lectures while 3rd years will focus more on billing, contracts, and fine tuning their practice). Additionally, we employ the Foundations Curriculum which utilizes a “flipped classroom” approach with suggested reading, podcasts, and video series to independently review core content. This information is then reinforced through oral board cases in small group settings. We incorporate several hands-on procedural labs and simulation-based conferences in our state-of-the-art simulation center, one of the largest in the United States. This keeps conference fresh and fun with less sitting in the traditional PowerPoint lecture setting.
Asynchronous Learning
Each week, we allow one hour of independent learning. The residents have a comprehensive list of options to learn at their own pace and time. As emergency physicians, we know that we learn best by doing, not by sitting in a classroom.
Resident-Led Activities
Residents are extremely active in our program in leadership roles. They are actively engaged in committees including Quality Review of ED Cases, EMR Management, Simulation Training, Wellness and Sports, Alumni Involvement, Social Media, Curriculum Design, American Airlines Staffing, and Community Work. To help create a successful future for UT Southwestern, residents are very involved during the recruitment season. This includes residents of all years interviewing candidates. Senior residents on the teaching rotation are responsible for instructing medical students and helping facilitate clerkships. Senior residents also conduct a grand rounds lecture during conference, lead small group discussions, and actively participate in on-shift teaching.
Fellowships
The Department of Emergency Medicine offers fellowship programs in Simulation-Based Medical Education, Clinical Ultrasound, Emergency Medical Services, Medical Toxicology, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Emergency Disaster and Global Health, Medical Education, and Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine. Whether you are set on a fellowship or still undecided, we have many options available that may pique your interest.
Global Health Rotations
Opportunities are available for residents to rotate through clinical settings in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, South Africa, Chile, Colombia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Malawi. Our New Zealand rotation is by far the most popular and involves working two months in a community emergency medicine environment with compensation. This list is not exhaustive and our program supports residents rotating in regions of personal interest.
Amazing Faculty
The Chair of our Department, Dr. Deborah Diercks, was Society of Academic Emergency Medicine President from 2015-2016. The Executive Vice Chair, Dr. Mark Courtney, was SAEM President from 2017-2018. Our previous Program Director, Dr. Larissa Velez, was nominated as ADIEM Visionary Educator Award for 2021. We have two past American College of Emergency Medicine presidents on staff and more than a dozen board-certified toxicologists. The Chair of the institutional IRB is one of our faculty. Many of our faculty members are double or triple board-certified.
Resident Participation in Statewide and National Organized Medicine
We have residents serving in a variety of positions at the national and state levels. Our residents serve as representatives to SAEM, Texas College of Emergency Physicians, ACEP, and the Texas Medical Association. This past year, four of our residents were accepted to the Texas College of Emergency Physicians Leadership and Advocacy Fellowship and several of our residents serve on institutional committees.
Community Hospital Rotations
We collaborate closely with other hospitals across the DFW metroplex so residents can experience community emergency medicine in Level 1 and 2 trauma centers, single coverage EDs, and combined pediatric emergency medicine/adult emergency medicine departments.
Wellness
We have a resident-run Wellness Committee that organizes monthly social events. This helps maintain balance during residency. Our Wellness activities include monthly wellness outings, a new intern welcome dinner, volleyball team, soccer team, running group, Wellness Week, an annual class day off, Karaoke night, Secret Santa, and many more.
Final Thoughts
We are incredibly proud of our residency program and our residents. Each individual in our program is an essential part of what makes the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency a truly inspiring program. We each underwent our own transformations and observed our peers become exceptional emergency medicine physicians. It is an honor to be able to give back to the program responsible for shaping each of us. We hope to create an experience as inspirational, transformative, and worthy of pride as the experience prior Chief Residents created for us.
Sincerely,
Deven Bhatia, M.D.
Iqra Zakaria, M.D.
Danielle Rucker, M.D.
Jonathan Brewer, M.D.
Heath Garner, M.D.
Chief Residents 2021-2022
Important Dates in Parkland’s History
1872: Three Dallas physicians open the first permanent hospital to care for indigent patients in the midst of a “red light district" at Wood and Houston streets.
1872: The city of Dallas hires a physician to care for prisoners. After he finishes his rounds he treats paupers on the jailhouse steps.
1874: A new hospital is built on the corner of Columbia and South Lamar streets. It comprises a one-room, 25-by-50-foot house with an adjoining kitchen and a bathroom. All the patients — men, women, and children — are bedded, fed, and treated in one 18-bed ward. Surgery is performed at bedside by lamplight.
April 2, 1957: Parkland cares for 175 patients in two hours after a tornado ravages Dallas.
1961: Parkland opens one of the largest civilian burn units in the U.S., designating four, four-bed wards as a burn treatment area.
Nov. 22, 1963: President John F. Kennedy is treated at Parkland hospital after suffering a fatal gunshot wound.
1983: Parkland is certified as the first Level I Trauma Center in Texas.
1985: Parkland plays a leading role, with state lawmakers Jesse Oliver, Ray Farabee, and Farabee’s wife, Helen, in passing legislation to ban “patient dumping.” The document became a model for national legislation signed into law on April 7, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan.
November 2008: Dallas County voters overwhelmingly voted (82 percent in favor) to support the construction of a new hospital partially funded through bond proceeds.
Aug. 20, 2015: The new Parkland Memorial Hospital officially opens its doors to patients. The state-of-the-art 862-bed, 17-story structure largely replaces the aging Parkland Memorial Hospital that opened in 1954.
Our home base, Parkland Memorial Hospital, houses a 110-bed Emergency Department. It is perennially one of the busiest in the country. Parkland is also home to numerous other top residency and fellowship programs which gives us the opportunity to learn from and work with premier physicians from all other specialties. It is a Level 1 adult trauma center and a regional pediatric and adult burn center. As Parkland serves as the Dallas County hospital, we are granted the privilege to care for the underserved.
Just walking distance from Parkland are Children’s Health℠ Children's Medical Center Dallas and UT Southwestern’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital . Children’s Medical Center Dallas is one of three Level 1 pediatric trauma centers in Texas, a PECARN research site, and home to world renowned Pediatric faculty. Clements University Hospital is a destination care facility for cancer, transplant, and cardiac patients. There, we rotate through the ED and CVICU, providing us with the opportunity to not only care for typical emergencies, but also manage LVADs, pulmonary hypertension, and ECMO.
Lastly, our program integrates numerous community rotations to sharpen our clinical acumen and polish our personal practice.
These unique training experiences build emergency medicine physicians that are exceptionally well-rounded, clinically competent, and capable of practicing emergency medicine in any environment. We have watched our peers grow into successful fellows and influential attendings across emergency medicine and its subspecialties.
We are excited for your interest in the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency Program. We each feel incredibly privileged to be here. We wish you the best of luck during interview season and look forward to meeting you!
What We Have to Offer
Cutting Edge Conference
We have conference every Thursday from 7:30-11:30 am. Residents are excused from clinical duties in all EDs during this time. Conference incorporates multiple modalities for learners including small group, case-based, and longitudinal high-yield lectures. We also work to deliver level specific content (i.e. 1st years receive more foundation lectures while 3rd years will focus more on billing, contracts, and fine tuning their practice). Additionally, we employ the Foundations Curriculum which utilizes a “flipped classroom” approach with suggested reading, podcasts, and video series to independently review core content. This information is then reinforced through oral board cases in small group settings. We incorporate several hands-on procedural labs and simulation-based conferences in our state-of-the-art simulation center, one of the largest in the United States. This keeps conference fresh and fun with less sitting in the traditional PowerPoint lecture setting.
Asynchronous Learning
Each week, we allow one hour of independent learning. The residents have a comprehensive list of options to learn at their own pace and time. As emergency physicians, we know that we learn best by doing, not by sitting in a classroom.
Resident-Led Activities
Residents are extremely active in our program in leadership roles. They are actively engaged in committees including Quality Review of ED Cases, EMR Management, Simulation Training, Wellness and Sports, Alumni Involvement, Social Media, Curriculum Design, American Airlines Staffing, and Community Work. To help create a successful future for UT Southwestern, residents are very involved during the recruitment season. This includes residents of all years interviewing candidates. Senior residents on the teaching rotation are responsible for instructing medical students and helping facilitate clerkships. Senior residents also conduct a grand rounds lecture during conference, lead small group discussions, and actively participate in on-shift teaching.
Fellowships
The Department of Emergency Medicine offers fellowship programs in Simulation-Based Medical Education, Clinical Ultrasound, Emergency Medical Services, Medical Toxicology, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Emergency Disaster and Global Health, Medical Education, and Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine. Whether you are set on a fellowship or still undecided, we have many options available that may pique your interest.
Global Health Rotations
Opportunities are available for residents to rotate through clinical settings in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, South Africa, Chile, Colombia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Malawi. Our New Zealand rotation is by far the most popular and involves working two months in a community emergency medicine environment with compensation. This list is not exhaustive and our program supports residents rotating in regions of personal interest.
Amazing Faculty
The Chair of our Department, Dr. Deborah Diercks, was Society of Academic Emergency Medicine President from 2015-2016. The Executive Vice Chair, Dr. Mark Courtney, was SAEM President from 2017-2018. Our previous Program Director, Dr. Larissa Velez, was nominated as ADIEM Visionary Educator Award for 2021. We have two past American College of Emergency Medicine presidents on staff and more than a dozen board-certified toxicologists. The Chair of the institutional IRB is one of our faculty. Many of our faculty members are double or triple board-certified.
Resident Participation in Statewide and National Organized Medicine
We have residents serving in a variety of positions at the national and state levels. Our residents serve as representatives to SAEM, Texas College of Emergency Physicians, ACEP, and the Texas Medical Association. This past year, four of our residents were accepted to the Texas College of Emergency Physicians Leadership and Advocacy Fellowship and several of our residents serve on institutional committees.
Community Hospital Rotations
We collaborate closely with other hospitals across the DFW metroplex so residents can experience community emergency medicine in Level 1 and 2 trauma centers, single coverage EDs, and combined pediatric emergency medicine/adult emergency medicine departments.
Wellness
We have a resident-run Wellness Committee that organizes monthly social events. This helps maintain balance during residency. Our Wellness activities include monthly wellness outings, a new intern welcome dinner, volleyball team, soccer team, running group, Wellness Week, an annual class day off, Karaoke night, Secret Santa, and many more.
Final Thoughts
We are incredibly proud of our residency program and our residents. Each individual in our program is an essential part of what makes the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency a truly inspiring program. We each underwent our own transformations and observed our peers become exceptional emergency medicine physicians. It is an honor to be able to give back to the program responsible for shaping each of us. We hope to create an experience as inspirational, transformative, and worthy of pride as the experience prior Chief Residents created for us.
Sincerely,
Deven Bhatia, M.D.
Iqra Zakaria, M.D.
Danielle Rucker, M.D.
Jonathan Brewer, M.D.
Heath Garner, M.D.
Chief Residents 2021-2022
Important Dates in Parkland’s History
1872: Three Dallas physicians open the first permanent hospital to care for indigent patients in the midst of a “red light district" at Wood and Houston streets.
1872: The city of Dallas hires a physician to care for prisoners. After he finishes his rounds he treats paupers on the jailhouse steps.
1874: A new hospital is built on the corner of Columbia and South Lamar streets. It comprises a one-room, 25-by-50-foot house with an adjoining kitchen and a bathroom. All the patients — men, women, and children — are bedded, fed, and treated in one 18-bed ward. Surgery is performed at bedside by lamplight.
April 2, 1957: Parkland cares for 175 patients in two hours after a tornado ravages Dallas.
1961: Parkland opens one of the largest civilian burn units in the U.S., designating four, four-bed wards as a burn treatment area.
Nov. 22, 1963: President John F. Kennedy is treated at Parkland hospital after suffering a fatal gunshot wound.
1983: Parkland is certified as the first Level I Trauma Center in Texas.
1985: Parkland plays a leading role, with state lawmakers Jesse Oliver, Ray Farabee, and Farabee’s wife, Helen, in passing legislation to ban “patient dumping.” The document became a model for national legislation signed into law on April 7, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan.
November 2008: Dallas County voters overwhelmingly voted (82 percent in favor) to support the construction of a new hospital partially funded through bond proceeds.
Aug. 20, 2015: The new Parkland Memorial Hospital officially opens its doors to patients. The state-of-the-art 862-bed, 17-story structure largely replaces the aging Parkland Memorial Hospital that opened in 1954.
