Mary Paulk, M.D.

M. Elizabeth Paulk, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of the Palliative Medicine section in the Division of General Internal Medicine.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Paulk holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Welleley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She earned her medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and completed internal medicine residency training at UT Southwestern.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1999.

Dr. Paulk’s clinical interest is in the field of palliative medicine. She was the founder of palliative medicine programs at UT Southwestern and currently serves as the Medical Director of ambulatory and inpatient palliative medicine programs for the Parkland Health & Hospital System. She also has a strong interest in graduate medical education.

She was the inaugural Program Director for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program and is currently an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Her educational and scholarly activities have been recognized with fellowship in the American College of Physicians and the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She has delivered a number of invited lectures and published numerous academic articles.

Her research interests include palliative care and mitigation of disparities in health care, particularly in end-of-life care. She serves as a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and is Co-chair of the LGBT Business Resource Group. She is also one of the founders of UT Southwestern’s Health Equity Discussion Group.

In 2018, she received UT Southwestern’s President’s Award for Diversity and Humanism in Clinical Care for her efforts to improve racial equity on campus.

Medical School

Emory University School of Medicine (1996)

Internship

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1997), Internal Medicine

Residency

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1999), Internal Medicine

• Minority Access to Care
• Palliative Care

Featured Publications

Trauma Surgeon and Palliative Care Physician Attitudes Regarding Goals-of-Care Delineation for Injured Geriatric Patients.

Cunningham HB, Scielzo SA, Nakonezny PA, Bruns BR, Brasel KJ, Inaba K, Brakenridge SC, Kerby JD, Joseph BA, Mohler MJ, Cuschieri J, Paulk ME, Ekeh AP, Madni TD, Taveras LR, Imran JB, Wolf SE, Phelan HA Am J Hosp Palliat Care 2019 Jan 1049909118823182

Validation of a Geriatric Trauma Prognosis Calculator: A P.A.L.Li.A.T.E. Consortium Study.

Cook AC, Joseph B, Mohler MJ, Inaba K, Bruns BR, Nakonezny PA, Kerby JD, Brasel KJ, Wolf SE, Cuschieri J, Paulk ME, Rhodes RL, Brakenridge SC, Ekeh AP, Phelan HA J Am Geriatr Soc 2017 Aug

A comparison of prognosis calculators for geriatric trauma: A P.A.L.LI.A.T.E. consortium study.

Madni TD, Ekeh AP, Brakenridge SC, Brasel KJ, Joseph B, Inaba K, Bruns BR, Kerby JD, Cuschieri J, Mohler MJ, Nakonezny PA, Clark A, Imran J, Wolf SE, Paulk ME, Rhodes RL, Phelan HA J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2017 Apr

Understanding the Role of Religion in Medical Decision Making.

Paulk ME J Oncol Pract 2017 Mar JOP2016020693

Creation of a decision aid for goal-setting after geriatric burns: A study from the prognostic assessment of life and limitations after trauma in the elderly [PALLIATE] consortium.

Hodgman E, Joseph B, Mohler J, Wolf SE, Paulk ME, Rhodes RL, Nakonezny PA, Phelan HA J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2016 Feb

Multicenter External Validation of the Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score: A Study by the Prognostic Assessment of Life and Limitations After Trauma in the Elderly [PALLIATE] Consortium.

Cook AC, Joseph B, Inaba K, Nakonezny PA, Bruns BR, Kerby JD, Brasel KJ, Wolf SE, Cuschieri J, Paulk ME, Rhodes RL, Brakenridge SC, Phelan HA J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2015 Nov

Chemotherapy Use, Performance Status, and Quality of Life at the End of Life.

Prigerson HG, Bao Y, Shah MA, Paulk ME, LeBlanc TW, Schneider BJ, Garrido MM, Reid MC, Berlin DA, Adelson KB, Neugut AI, Maciejewski PK JAMA Oncol 2015 Jul

Estimating Geriatric Mortality after Injury Using Age, Injury Severity, and Performance of a Transfusion: The Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score.

Zhao FZ, Wolf SE, Nakonezny PA, Minhajuddin A, Rhodes RL, Paulk ME, Phelan HA J Palliat Med 2015 May

Injury Severity and Comorbidities Alone Do Not Predict Futility of Care after Geriatric Trauma.

Duvall DB, Zhu X, Elliott AC, Wolf SE, Rhodes RL, Paulk ME, Phelan HA J Palliat Med 2014 Dec

Communication About Advance Directives and End-of-Life Care Options Among Internal Medicine Residents.

Rhodes RL, Tindall K, Xuan L, Paulk ME, Halm EA Am J Hosp Palliat Care 2014 Jan

• Member, Gold Humanism Honor Society
  (2019)
• Member, Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT)
  (2019)
• President's Award for Diversity and Humanism in Clinical Care
  (2019)
• Distinguished Professorship in Palliative Care
  Supported by Leland and Eunice Carter and from Charles Hudson recognizing Dr. Steven Leach (2017)
• Champion of End-of-Life Care
  Award honoring Texans making an outstanding contribution to improving the quality of end-of-life care (2005)
• Soros Foundation Project on Death in America Faculty Scholar
  2 year award to support research in end-of-life care (2000)

• Fellow, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2019)
• Fellow, American College of Physicians (2006)
• Member, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (1999)
• Member, American College of Physicians (1999)