Clinical Focus
Acute care of hospitalized adult patients
Areas of Expertise
Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, Utilization Management, Interdisciplinary Professional Education, Acute Pain Management, GME Curriculum Development, Faculty Development
Biography
Dr. Sudhagar Thangarasu is an academic hospitalist with more than 13 years of experience as a medical educator and physician leader.
As the Designated Institutional Official (DIO) and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME), he leads all aspects of FIU-GME programs’ accreditation and fosters curriculum and faculty development for success.
Before joining FIU, Dr. Thangarasu served as Assistant Dean for GME and Founding Residency Program Director at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.
He also held medical education and physician leadership roles at the University of Cincinnati (Internist) and the University of California Los Angeles affiliated Kern Medical (Founding Division Chief, Academic Hospitalist Program).
Research Interests
Graduate medical education, interdisciplinary professional education, pain management, professionalism competency
Courses Taught
Didactics in clinical topics for the IM programs and GME competencies for trainees in all specialties.
Honors & Awards
American College of Physicians Fellow
Society of Hospital Medicine Fellow
GME Leadership and Service Recognition Award, Texas Tech University HSC El Paso/The Hospitals of Providence Transmountain campus, January 2025
2024 Values-Based Culture Champion of the Year, Winner in Accountability and Respect categories, Texas Tech University HSC El Paso, 2024
Physician of the Month. The Hospitals of Providence - Transmountain, El Paso, TX -February 2021
Top Reviewer, Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 2020
Unsung Hero Award, Department of Medicine, Kern Medical, Bakersfield, CA, March 2019
John M. Eisenberg Award for the I-PASS Study Group by JCAHO and the National Quality Forum (NQF) for Innovation in Patient Safety, April 2017
Committees & Professional Organizations
AAMC Group on Resident Affairs
Graduate Medical Education Committee-Chair, FIU
GME steering committee, FIU-Baptist Health
FIU Undergraduate Research Reviewer
Research and Innovation abstract reviewer, Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference
Council of Florida Medical School Deans, GME subcommittee, 2025
Medical Executive Committee, Baptist Health Baptist Hospital
Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committees, Baptist Health Baptist Hospital
Education
Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Mercy, 2012
MBBS, Stanley Medical College, The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, India, 2006
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine