It was the breadth of emergency medicine (EM) that first captivated Deborah Diercks, M.D., M.S., M.B.A.

“I wanted to take care of everyone, regardless of age and the acuity of the illness. Emergency medicine was the only specialty where I could do all of that in the same shift,” said Dr. Diercks, Chair and Professor of Emergency Medicine. “There’s also something about the culture of EM that drew me in early. It is truly a team-based specialty, and the people are very innovative at solving problems.”

What she loves most now is that the work keeps evolving.

“The clinical problems are the same in some ways, but the tools we have are completely different than when I started,” Dr. Diercks said. “Leading a department means I get a lens into how that evolution happens from an entire team of people. In addition to watching faculty grow, watching residents become outstanding physicians never gets old.”

Nationally recognized for her leadership, Dr. Diercks was recently honored with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) 2026 John Marx Leadership Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions to emergency medicine.

“Receiving the Marx Leadership Award is genuinely humbling,” she said. “Over the years I have watched colleagues who have made transformative contributions to academic emergency medicine receive this award, and to be considered in that company is something I don’t take lightly.”

As a UT Southwestern faculty member, Dr. Diercks oversees emergency medicine programs at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and Parkland Memorial Hospital, which together comprise one of the largest emergency medicine programs in the nation. Dr. Diercks also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Emergency Medicine as well as the SAEM Program Committee and Faculty Development Committee. In 2025 she chaired the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Clinical Policy Committee, and she will serve as the next Editor of Academic Emergency Medicine.

Among earlier accolades, Dr. Diercks received SAEM’s 2014 Advancement of Women in Academic Emergency Medicine Award and ACEP’s 2022 Outstanding Contribution in Research Award for her work in cardiovascular emergency medicine.

She earned her medical degree from Tufts University and completed residency at the University of Cincinnati. She joined UTSW as the inaugural Chair of Emergency Medicine in 2014.

Emergency medicine, she noted, is at an interesting point as a specialty.

“Issues around workforce, reimbursement, and the role of the emergency department in a changing healthcare system are constant topics of conversation,” she said. “I feel a real responsibility to be part of leading through that thoughtfully, not just for UT Southwestern but for the field. I think the best days of academic emergency medicine are still ahead, and I want to help shape what they look like.”