Program Leadership
The clinical experience of our trainees is based on a foundation of the strengths of our teaching hospitals, commitment of our faculty, and investment of the Department in the Residency Program.
The UT Southwestern University Hospitals’ tertiary referral practice gives trainees exposure to cutting-edge diagnostics and therapeutics. Parkland Memorial Hospital is a premier county hospital serving indigent patients of Dallas County, as well as patients from all over the world who present with an unparalleled spectrum of disease processes. The Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, one of the largest in America, offers house staff the opportunity to care for our nation’s veteran population.
The strength of the Residency Program is the close relationship the house staff share with our clinical faculty. Internal Medicine is fortunate to have three Department Chairs still active in teaching our residents. The faculty recognizes that the house staff are the lifeblood of our practice and provide the house officers with the autonomy to be the patients’ primary providers in a way that optimizes learning.
Postgraduate training programs around the country know the quality of our graduates. Whether or not you choose to specialize after residency, you will leave this program as an excellent physician with a solid scientific foundation and close professional relationships that will last a lifetime.

Salahuddin (Dino) Kazi, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair, Education
Residency Program Director
Internal Medicine
Associate Program Directors

Sujata Bhushan, M.D.
Division of General Internal Medicine

Rosechelle Ruggiero, M.D.
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Mentorship and Residency Recruitment

Kerry Dunbar, M.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases
Curriculum Development

Christiana Renner, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dale Okorodudu, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care

Elizabeth Paulk, M.D.
Professor
Division of General Internal Medicine, Palliative Care
Resident Recuritment

Gail Peterson, M.D.
Professor
Division of Cardiology
Resident Recruitment
Associate Director of Education

Shannon Scielzo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Vice Chairs

Kavita Bhavan, M.D.
Associate Professor and Associate Vice Chair
Clinical Innovation and High Value Care

Carlos Girod, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Clinical Affairs, Parkland

R. Tyler Miller, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Chief of Medicine, VA Medical Center

Sharon Reimold, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair for
Clinical Operations and Faculty Development

Dwight Towler, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Research

Jonathan C. Weissler, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Chief of Medicine, University Hospitals