Martinez, Melissa MD

School of Medicine
Psychiatry
210-450-6450
martinezm50@uthscsa.edu

Melissa Martinez is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (effective September 1, 2020) at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Martinez completed her medical school and psychiatry residency training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.



Dr. Martinez is actively involved in the education and training of the next-generation of physicians through her teaching and supervision of medical students and psychiatry residents. She is currently one of the course Co-Directors for the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Module, an integrative ?mega-course? that combines Neurology, Neuroanatomy, and Psychopathology, which is taught to the second-year medical students. This course incorporates multiple educational methods, such as team-based learning, audience response systems, traditional lectures, web-based lectures, and small group interviews. During the small group interviews, medical students and faculty meet with actual patients. The medical students work with faculty to develop their clinical interviewing skills and improve their understanding of the mental status exam. In 2019, the Mind, Brain and Behavior module was awarded recognition as the ?Favorite Pre-Clinical Module? by the medical students.



In addition to teaching, Dr. Martinez serves as a mentor in the Psychiatry Faculty Mentorship Program and volunteers as a Psychiatry consultant for the UT Health San Antonio student-run free medication clinic at Alpha Home. Prior to her arrival in San Antonio, she received the Faculty Teaching Award while she was on faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, where served as the Clinic Director of the Mood Disorders Clinic, supervising residents and medical students rotating through the clinic. She also coordinated the Advanced Psychopharmacology Course for the PGY2 Psychiatry Residents.



In 2012, She was recruited to UT Health San Antonio to help establish a new clinic, the Transitional Care Clinic (TCC). Upon her arrival to UT Health San Antonio in 2013, Dr. Martinez served as the Medical Director of the TCC, where she developed and implemented protocols that supported maintaining a safe environment while delivering quality care to a sub-acute outpatient population in an educational and interdisciplinary setting. She participated in the education of residents, medical students, social work interns and psychology interns rotating through the clinic.



She is also actively involved in the development of on-line educational modules that target the general population, direct service workers, and clinicians. These interactive modules increase knowledge about mental health conditions, while simultaneously providing resources and practical skills for those who work with individuals struggling with mental health issues. These modules are wide-reaching, as they are completed by approximately 2000 people/month.



In addition, Dr. Martinez serves as the Chair of the Evaluation Subcommittee of the UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine Curriculum Committee, is a member of the Executive Committee of the Curriculum Committee, and an active member of the Curriculum Committee. In these roles, she helps oversee the medical school curriculum including the content and effectiveness. She is also an active member of the national Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP) Faculty Development Committee. She has presented at national meetings, including the annual meeting for the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP); and has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a national organization.