Columbus Named Vice Dean for Dallas

T. Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine, announces the appointment of Cristie Columbus, M.D., as the college’s vice dean for its Dallas clinical training program.

Dr. Columbus will lead academic activities for current students and faculty that support the college’s mission of excellence in education, research and health care delivery.

“As we seek to offer our medical students new and diverse clinical learning opportunities, Dr. Columbus and her leadership in Dallas are vital to our success as a medical school for Texas,” Dr. Shomaker said. “As vice dean, Dr. Columbus will oversee faculty recruitment, curricular offerings, student services and affiliations with health institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Dr. Columbus earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from The University of Texas at Austin in 1983 and her medical degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1988. She then completed an internship in categorical medicine at Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in 1989. From 1989 to 1991, Dr. Columbus completed her residency in internal medicine, and from 1991 to 1993, she completed a fellowship in infectious diseases, both at BUMC.

Since 1993, Dr. Columbus has served BUMC as the assistant director of medical education in addition to holding teaching positions at BUMC. She has lectured in many areas of infectious diseases but has a particular interest in health care epidemiology and infection control and prevention.

Among her many leadership roles for the Baylor Health Care System, she serves as assistant medical director for epidemiology and infectious diseases and emergency management and infectious diseases. At BUMC, she serves as a medical director of healthcare improvement, vice chair of the Graduate Medical Education Committee, chair of the Graduate Medical Education Sub-Committee on Internal Review, vice chair of the Institutional Review Board and is the assistant patient safety officer.

Since 2010, Dr. Columbus has served as the program director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship at BUMC and is currently the president of the medical staff. She also practices at North Texas Infectious Disease Consultants, P.A.

Dr. Columbus is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and of the Subspecialty Board of Infectious Diseases. She is a member of several national professional organizations including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. She is also a member of the Texas Infectious Disease Society, Texas Club of Internists and active regionally in the Texas Medical Association, where for six years she served on the Committee on Infectious Diseases, and with the Dallas County Medical Society, where she recently served as a member of the Board of Directors.