Emergency Medicine’s Melody Glenn wins national EMS award

Melody Glenn, MD, MFA, received the 2025 President’s Award from the National Association of EMS Physicians earlier this year.

Glenn, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson Department of Emergency Medicine and the base hospital medical director for Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, was recognized for her work on the prehospital management of opioid use disorder.

The award honors NAEMSP members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the ‎organization by creating new initiatives or furthering its work. 

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Glenn said the honor is especially meaningful to her, as she had she often felt like an outsider – first early in her career, and then later when she sought to merge emergency medicine with addiction medicine.

“But, ultimately, this merging of disciplines was exactly what led to me getting the award,” Glenn said.

She said she was honored and surprised to learn of the recognition.

“I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe the potential that others saw in me. I guess I do belong in EMS,” she said.

It’s the second year in a row that a U of A Department of Emergency Medicine faculty member received the award from the association, which was founded in 1984 to serve as a resource and advocate for EMS physicians and professionals. In 2024, Amber Rice, MD, an associate professor in the department, won the President’s Award for her work on the NAEMSP Research Committee, where she coordinated the review and publication of hundreds of scientific works. 

“Dr. Glenn and Dr. Rice are outstanding EMS faculty, and each has made notable contributions to the Division of EMS here in Tucson and the EMS community at large,” said Joshua B. Gaither, MD, a professor of emergency medicine, chief of the U of A Division of Emergency Medical Services and program director of the EMS fellowship and degree programs. 

Glenn, who received her Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from the U of A, has been with the Department of Emergency Medicine since 2019. She has been working with EMS agencies across the country to increase access to a medication called buprenorphine, a synthetic opioid. Although it is the gold standard treatment for opioid use disorder, it can be hard to access for many reasons, including history, policy and stigma.

“How can it be that we have an overdose epidemic killing thousands of Americans and yet the treatment remains so underutilized? It is absolute madness,” Glenn said. “Once I saw this gaping divide between our reality and what is possible, I couldn’t unsee it. Until that changes, this feels like my life’s work.”