Biography
My name is Emiliano Valles, I am an Albuquerque, NM native who attended University of New Mexico for my undergraduate education where I received my B.S. degree in Biology and B.A. in Chemistry. I subsequently matriculated to Washington University School of Medicine, I where I earned my M.D. degree before returning to UNM for residency with the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry. I also completed a Fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at UNM before continuing to work at UNM for my early career.
Personal Statement
My initial decision to pursue a career in psychiatry was based largely on a fascination with human behavior. During my undergraduate studies, a tendency toward readings in evolutionary psychology and the effects of emotion on decision-making ought to have been heralds of my eventual decision to pursue a career in behavioral health. While in medical school I had intellectual inclination toward the neurosciences, so I knew that I would have to decide between a career in psychiatry or neurology. This decision ultimately came down to interpersonal experiences during patient care. My patient encounters in neurology left me wanting for more meaningful human interactions. I found myself to be the student who spent more time than strictly needed on the social history. I found it relevant.
During my training as a Psychiatric resident at the University of New Mexico, I found this relevance manifest as a recurring theme amongst the afflicted and their families; that the story of an individual is remembered in the context of disease by their ability to cope personally, socially, and emotionally with its effects. With this appreciation, I have since considered most medical illness to be related to behavioral health and feel that psychiatric practitioners play an integral role in the management of chronic life-limiting illness.
To that effect, I pursued further training in Psychosomatic medicine in part to prepare for a future in which behavioral health providers are well situated in a medical home and work in conjunction with other practitioners. My aim continues to be the provision of collaborative patient care alongside peer-to-peer professional education regarding topics in mental health as a way of reducing stigma, improving accessibility and quality of care.
My clinical work has also placed me in a position to share my excitement and enthusiasm with the next generation of psychiatric clinicians. I am presently the Associate Medical Student Clerkship Director for the Department of Psychiatry and a Core Teaching Faculty for the Psychiatry Residency Training Program. This past year I had the honor to be awarded the Robert Kellner Teaching award as chosen by Residents in the department. I look forward to continuing to pursue a career at the University of New Mexico as part of the Clinician-Educator Track where I can continue to give back to an educational environment that has afforded me so much.
Areas of Specialty
From a clinical care standpoint, I have interests in the somatic manifestations of psychiatric illness and the behavioral manifestations of medical insults. In my clinical experiences thus far, the initially confusing and often striking presentations of functional illness have strengthened my curiosity about the integration of mind and body. As Geographic Medical Director for the Adult Inpatient Consult Psychiatry Service, I currently practice in a tertiary referral/regional trauma center academic setting that provides exposure to rare and severe manifestations of disease that exemplify the nuanced interface between the Psyche and Soma. This allows me to continue to expand my specific clinical interests in medical insults affecting normal cognition as well as the psychiatric manifestations of movement disorders.
Achievements & Awards
UNM Department of Psychiatry 2019-2020 Robert Kellner Teaching Award - Awarded to UNM Dept of Psychiatry Faculty Member as chosen by Residents. The Robert Kellner Teaching Award is to recognize a Faculty member for excellence in teaching. Robert Kellner was a teacher beloved by residents for whom he was always available. He also produced substantial research and was a strong advocate for clinical research in the Department. He was a wonderful teacher who continues to be missed long after his passing.
UNM Department of Psychiatry 2020-2021 Robert Kellner Teaching Award
UNM Department of Hospital Medicine 2018 Rush Pierce Outstanding Professionalism Award - Awarded by the UNMH Division of Hospital Medicine, named for Dr. Rush Pierce who exemplified professionalism over his 10 years with their Division before his retirement.
Washington University School of Medicine 2006 Bernard L. Shore Distinguished Alumni Scholarship - A faculty committee selects the students based on exceptional academic achievement and character. The Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association's Executive Council selects four outstanding alumni to honor as namesakes of these scholarships each year. Each student's scholarship bears the name of an alumnus or alumna who has served on the School of Medicine faculty with particular distinction
UNM Department Chemistry 2006 Ann Kahn Memorial Prize in Chemistry - Awarded to an outstanding UNM senior majoring in Chemistry.
UNM Health Sciences Center 2004 Asthma and Leukemia Research Internship - Competitive Undergraduate Research Internship
Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
University of New Mexico 2001 Regent Scholarship - The program is designed to attract the brightest and most talented students from the state and nation to the University of New Mexico. The Regents’ Scholarship is a full-ride academic scholarship, which includes tuition, books and fees, room and board, and is renewable for eight semesters provided the student meets specific renewal requirements
Languages
- English
Courses Taught
Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Annual Meeting - Fixing the Broken Brain: Challenges to Systems Based Treatment in Traumatic Brain Injury - Pre-Conference Course, mixed audience - Subsection on Neuroimaging - November 2018
Clinical Neurosciences Grand Rounds - Huntington’s Disease: Intention, Inattention and Insight - May 2017
Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds - Huntington’s Disease: Psychiatric Manifestations and Management - April 2015
Research and Scholarship
Luo A, Muraida S, Pinchotti D, Richardson E, Ye E, HollingsworthB, WinA, Myers O, Langsjoen J, Valles E, Zolyomi A, Quinn DK. Bispectral index monitoring with density spectral array for delirium detection. Psychosomatics 2020; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2020.08.008.
Evans DA, Repchak AT, Valles E, Zolyomi A, Quinn DK. “Utility of Density Spectral Array in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Delirium.” Poster presentation at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Annual Meeting, Austin TX, Nov. 9-12, 2016.
Valles E, Quinn DK. Dances with dopamine: managing psychiatric symptoms in a multidisciplinary Huntington Disease clinic. Poster presentation for the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine 2014 Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Nov. 13-15, 2014.