Dr. Larissa Velez, who has led the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at UT Southwestern since 2011, has been selected as the new Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education.

She succeeds Dr. Bradley Marple, who guided the growth of graduate medical education (GME) at UT Southwestern for nearly a decade. Dr. Marple, who stepped down as Associate Dean to focus full time on his role as Chair of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, will continue to serve as an Institutional GME Consultant.

As Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Velez is responsible for the broad spectrum of residency and fellowship programs at UT Southwestern. The appointment took effect Aug. 1.

“I am passionate about graduate medical education and I am honored to take on this leadership role,” Dr. Velez said. “My priorities for the position include developing and supporting best practices for GME programs in collaboration with the UT Southwestern Health System and affiliated partner hospitals; recruiting and retaining a high-quality, diverse workforce; creating professional development opportunities for program directors, coordinators, and core faculty; and supporting an educational environment that promotes wellness.”

Dr. Velez, who joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2001, is a Distinguished Teaching Professor and serves as Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Under her leadership as Assistant Director and then Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, it has become one of the largest emergency medicine training programs in the country.

She has received the Emergency Medicine Department’s Teaching Excellence Award three times and last year was honored with a Leaders in Clinical Excellence Mentoring Award for her work with residents and junior faculty. Dr. Velez also has been actively involved in graduate medical education on the national level through organizations such as the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors.

“Dr. Velez has distinguished herself as an exemplary mentor and role model for the way she works with medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty,” said Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean, UT Southwestern Medical School.