Residents
Welcome from the Chief Residents
We are honored to serve as the 2026-2027 Chief Residents for the UT Southwestern Emergency Medicine Residency. We are proud to represent a program defined not only by its size but also by its people! Our wonderful community includes 78 residents and more than 100 faculty members who are deeply committed to education, mentorship, and patient care. Together, we serve the communities of Dallas County and the greater DFW area through one of the largest and most active training programs in the country. At the heart of our experience is Parkland Memorial Hospital, where we care for an extraordinary volume and diversity of patients, with nearly 240,000 annual visits. We also train at William P. Clements Jr Hospital, Children’s Medical Center Dallas, and other regional sites to ensure comprehensive exposure to a wide range of patient populations and practice settings.
Our Training Sites
Serving the community since 1872, Parkland Memorial Hospital (PMH) is Dallas County's only public hospital. A Level 1 Trauma Center, regional adult and pediatric burn center, and certified stroke center, PMH enables us to care for patients with a breadth of pathology that keeps us learning and growing on every shift. Additionally, PMH's county-funded health plan for uninsured/underinsured patients allows us to provide exceptional follow-up care.
William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital (CUH) is UT Southwestern's referral academic hospital and a quaternary care facility. It is repeatedly ranked as the No. 1 hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. At CUH, our residents learn to care for patients with complex, rare pathology who are commonly undergoing novel and cutting-edge therapies to fight diseases.
Childrens Medical Center of Dallas (CMC) is our main pediatric emergency department, which serves over 100,000 pediatric patients a year. The only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in North Texas and a PECARN research site, CMC enables us to train alongside some of the foremost researchers and experts in pediatric emergency medicine. During our PICU rotation, we learn from world-renowned faculty at one of the largest pediatric intensive care units in the nation. Our program offers a longitudinal pediatric emergency medicine experience allowing us to serve the region's children throughout our residency. Recently, Children’s Health and UT Southwestern announced plans to build a new $5 billion-dollar, multi-tower, pediatric hospital to replace the existing hospital. The new hospital will expand to 552 beds and 15% more emergency department space.
Additionally, we have several community training sites that provide ample exposure to community medicine. These sites include: Dallas VA Medical Center, Harris Methodist Hospital in Forth Worth, and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. We also get exposure to rural medicine at Hunt Regional Hospital.
Our Rotations
Our rotations span county, academic, community, and rural emergency department settings, preparing residents to care for any patient in any setting.
Our critical care training is a key strength of the program, with dedicated rotations in the MICU, neurocritical ICU, Surgical/Trauma ICU, Burn ICU, NICU, PICU, and CVICU. Residents also complete rotations in ultrasound, L&D, anesthesia, toxicology, and hand surgery.
A highlight of our program is the opportunity to spend two months during third year in New Zealand, practicing emergency medicine in an immersive, unique international setting. Flights, lodging, transportation, and shifts are all paid for by the program!
Conference and SIM
We pride ourselves on our intentional, high-quality resident education. During our weekly conference, held on Thursday mornings, we learn from each other, various expert faculty members from within our department and others, and guest lecturers from all over the country. We often review cases interactively, discuss topics in small groups, review new updates in the field of emergency medicine, and practice board-review style testing formats. UT Southwestern has a state-of-the-art Simulation Center and dedicated simulation fellowship-trained faculty who help us practice performing advanced procedures and managing challenging clinical situations in a high-fidelity manner. Our program sends all of our PGY1 residents to SAEM and our PGY3 residents to ACEP every year, and in addition, many of our residents will present research at numerous different national conferences every year.
Wellness
Resident wellness is a priority of our program, and we are committed to fostering a supportive, connected training environment. While we are a large program, we take pride in maintaining a close community where residents feel known and supported. In addition to wellness events organized by our resident led Wellness Committee, each resident is part of a “resident family” which includes faculty and peers across all three classes. We further encourage engagement beyond the clinical environment through the variety of committees including Social Media, Curriculum, Podcast Club, Women in EM which allow residents to explore their interests and build meaningful connections. Residents also have access to mental health services through GME designed to provide timely, flexible care that fits the demands of residency training.
Our Fellowships
We are fortunate to learn from experts in many Emergency Medicine subspecialties, including faculty formally trained in clinical informatics, sports medicine, ultrasound, simulation, EMS, disaster medicine, global health, surgery/anesthesia/medicine critical care, pediatric emergency medicine, and clinical operations. We have fellows in EMS, Global Health and Disaster Medicine, Ultrasound, Toxicology, Medical Education, Simulation, and Research. Our residents also pursue careers in critical care through our partnership with the Anesthesia Critical Care fellowship.
Final Thoughts
We are proud to be part of a large residency program grounded in mentorship, support and opportunities to train in exceptional clinical settings. Our program not only trains residents in clinical excellence but develops compassionate leaders in Emergency Medicine. We are honored to care for the patients and communities of Dallas and equally honored to serve as Chief residents.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about our program. We want to extend a warm Texas welcome to you!
Ron Helderman, M.D.
Joel Hines, D.O.
Morgan Kemerling, M.D.
Mitchell Love, D.O.
Malavika Prakasan, D.O.
Daniela Usuga, M.D.
