Alcohol: From Divine to Death

Kurt Kleinschmidt

Kurt C. Kleinschmidt, MD, DFACMT, FASAM is a Professor of Emergency Medicine within the Division of Medical Toxicology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. His areas of interest include Substance Use Disorders and snake envenomations. He graduated from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in 1986, completed his emergency medicine residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in 1990, and finished a clinical fellowship in Medical Toxicology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1999. He is Board Certified in Emergency Medicine (1991), Medical Toxicology (2002), and Addiction Medicine (2015). Within Parkland Health, he became the Medical Director of the Perinatal Intervention Program in 2016, was the Service Chief for the Integrated Family Planning Opioid Program in 2020-2024, and began the buprenorphine program in the Emergency Department in 2019. He began work in 2023 on the CDC grant, “Overdose Data 2 Action.” He served as the Toxicology Fellowship Program Director from 2004-2018 and as the Toxicology Division Chief from 2004-2020. His extensive focus on education was reflected by being selected to be a member of both the Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT) and The UT System Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education, in 2026. Professor of Emergency Medicine Division of Medical Toxicology Distinguished Teaching Professor University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Medical Director, Perinatal Intervention Program Parkland Health Dallas, Texas