Profile: Tara P. Vierra, MD, FAAP

Biography

Dr. Tara Phillipp Vierra earned her medical degree with honors from the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in 2011. Upon graduation, she received both the Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award and the Preceptorship Program Honors Award.

She completed her pediatric internship and residency at The University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center in the Texas Medical Center in 2014. During her training, Dr. Vierra gained extensive clinical experience at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, and the UT Health Houston Pediatric Specialty Clinics.

Since 2014, Dr. Vierra has served as a Pediatric Hospitalist in both the upper and lower Rio Grande Valley. She achieved board certification in General Pediatrics from the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) in 2014. When Pediatric Hospital Medicine became a newly established pediatric subspecialty, Dr. Vierra was among the first cohort of physicians in the nation to earn ABP subspecialty board certification in 2022.

Dr. Vierra is dedicated to medical education and has taught medical students and residents throughout her career. She previously served as faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Medicine (UTHSCSA) and the Valley Baptist Family Practice Residency Program, where she received the Most Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award.

In 2018, Dr. Vierra joined The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine (UTRGV SOM) and became a full-time Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in 2020. She is passionate about advancing high-quality, evidence-based care for children across the Rio Grande Valley. At UTRGV SOM, she serves as a Core Career Advisor for medical students. In this role, she was honored by the student body with the Career Advisor of the Year Award. She also serves as the Pediatric Clerkship Director and the Division Chief of Women’s and Children’s Health.