Dr. Betty Chang is a distinguished physician leader and associate professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). She also serves as the senior director of social emergency medicine and health equity within the Department of Emergency Medicine. A board-certified emergency physician with over 20 years of experience, Dr. Chang is widely recognized for her exceptional leadership, operational acumen, commitment to clinical excellence and dedication to advancing patient-centered care.

After completing her chief residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and fellowship training at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Dr. Chang joined NewYork-Presbyterian in 2009. She was appointed medical director of the CUIMC Adult Emergency Department in 2014, where she managed an 86-bed unit serving more than 100,000 patients annually. In this role, she led major initiatives to optimize patient throughput, enhance quality and safety and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration. Her leadership transformed departmental operations, aligning efficiency with compassionate, high-quality care.

Deeply committed to training the next generation of healthcare professionals, Dr. Chang teaches medical students, residents and graduate students across Columbia’s medical and public health campuses emphasizing systems thinking, leadership and the intersection of emergency medicine and population health. Since 2022, she has served as faculty in the Columbia Health System Simulation course at the Mailman School of Public Health, where she applies her operational expertise to experiential learning in healthcare systems management. She also founded the ENGAGE program, which bridges clinical medicine and public health by involving graduate students in bedside health education and community engagement.

Dr. Chang is a proud alumna of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she earned her Master of Health Administration. Dr. Chang was selected to serve on the school’s alumni board and was recently honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award for Excellence. She currently holds an interdisciplinary appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School, where she remains dedicated to advancing leadership development and academic collaboration.