By Carol Marie Cropper

Dr. Emily Marquez

Dr. Emily Marquez is the first member of her family to graduate not only from medical school, but from college as well.

She decided to become a doctor after watching her mother suffer from the complications of a devastating disease.

“My mom has lupus, so I went into medical school wanting to learn all I could about autoimmune diseases,” Dr. Marquez said. The symptoms of lupus are variable and complex; for example, her mother often had severe joint and muscle pain, she said.

Dr. Marquez’s training at UT Southwestern Medical School has prepared her well. Though she decided to specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation, Dr. Marquez said, “What I learned about rheumatology will help me take care of patients with musculoskeletal pain, patients with long hospital stays due to debilitating illnesses who need rehabilitation to get back their quality of life.”

Dr. Marquez is the recipient of the 2017 Eliot Goldings Award in Rheumatology, which recognizes the most outstanding Medical Student in rheumatology. The award honors Dr. Eliot A. Goldings, a faculty member in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases who died in 1988 at age 40. Dr. Goldings joined the Division in 1978 and distinguished himself as a scholar, teacher, and clinician.

Dr. Marquez, too, excelled as both a clinician and scholar, said Dr. Guillermo “Andres” Quiceno, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and one of the faculty members Dr. Marquez said was especially helpful to her.

“Since the beginning of the rotation, she was behaving well above her level of training – she took ownership of her patients; she always presented articles that contributed and sometimes changed patient management; she did presentations for us on different topics in the didactic sessions we had before the rounds,” he said.

“Dr. Marquez is very compassionate with the patients; she really tries to help them and she is very polite,” Dr. Quiceno added. “I think she fits very well in physical medicine and rehabilitation because she can combine her clinical skills with a passion for patient care that is natural for her.”

“I am very grateful to be chosen for the award and very much enjoyed my time on the rheumatology rotation,” Dr. Marquez said. “I learned so much in such a short period of time.”

Dr. Marquez grew up in Odessa, in West Texas, where she graduated at the top of her class from Permian High School. Her father works as an oil and gas plant operator, while her mother, Amanda, is a homemaker.

Dr. Marquez went on to earn a B.S. in biology from UT Permian Basin, with a minor in chemistry. While in college, she sometimes worked part time as a barista and still claims to make a “fantastic” cappuccino. She also likes to sing and “will drag my friends to karaoke whenever I can.”

Dr. Marquez is now headed to Chicago, where she will serve her physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University/Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), which ranked No. 1 in Adult Rehabilitation Hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s 2016-2017 ranking of America’s Best Hospitals. She plans to focus on cancer rehabilitation or palliative care.

“I am looking forward to starting the next phase of my career,” she said.