By Ron Durham

Dr. Colin Danko

From a very early age Dr. Colin Danko knew he wanted to pursue a career in emergency medicine, and he credits his mother and a hit TV show for that.

“I had an idea that I wanted to go into emergency medicine,” Dr. Danko said. “I am not entirely sure what sparked this interest, and I only half-jokingly attribute it to my mom making me watch the TV show ER when I was younger.”

The recipient of the 2017 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Award will serve his residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center and hopes to eventually practice in the Dallas area. The SAEM award is given annually to a senior Medical Student for demonstrating an intense commitment to emergency medicine.

“Colin represents the ‘all around’ EM career student who is embodied in the SAEM award,” said Dr. Jeffrey T. Van Dermark, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine who leads Undergraduate Medical Education. “With strong interests in toxicology and point of care ultrasound, he has developed the core academic and research skills necessary to become a future leader in emergency medicine.

“He has demonstrated great leadership skills as an officer in our student interest group and is a natural when it comes to managing people. We are very fortunate that he chose to continue his EM residency training here at UT Southwestern.”

Dr. Van Dermark is one of several faculty members Dr. Danko considers as mentors. Others include Drs. Angela Mihalic, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Professor of Pediatrics; Kurt Kleinschmidt and Larissa Velez, both Professors of Emergency Medicine; Lynn Roppolo, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine; and Kevin Brown, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.

Born in Houston, Dr. Danko spent most of his childhood in Austin with parents Rick and Sylvia, older brother Nate, and younger sister Anna. He attended McNeil High School, where he played soccer and ran for the cross-country team.

Dr. Danko, recently inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, attended UT Dallas on an Academic Excellence Scholarship and graduated magna cum laude with Collegium V honors, majoring in biology with a minor in Spanish and Latin American area studies. Following his junior year he volunteered at the Medical City ER to gain experience in the medical field.

During his first year at UT Southwestern Medical School, he was an active member of the EM Interest Group and shadowed in the Parkland Memorial Hospital ER. Dr. Danko also was admitted to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. In addition, he found time for research in the Emergency Department at Parkland with Drs. Kleinschmidt and Nancy Onisko, Assistant Instructor of Emergency Medicine, on a project examining the efficacy of end tidal CO2 in monitoring for respiratory failure in intoxicated patients.

“I think that EM is a great fit for me because I really enjoy the fast-paced nature of the specialty,” Dr. Danko said. “I also am attracted to the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of many people with every shift. And EM is a field that allows physicians to see patients with pathology from all fields of medicine.”

Dr. Danko and his wife, Mary, met at UT Dallas and married in 2014. Mrs. Danko recently began working as a Mental Health Clinician at the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center.

“I am very excited to start my residency in emergency medicine at UT Southwestern,” Dr. Danko said. “I am considering the possibility of pursuing a fellowship, but there are many options in EM and I am not yet sure where my greatest interests lie.”   

Dr. Velez holds the Michael P. Wainscott, M.D. Professorship in Emergency Medicine.