Melissa Deuter, MD

Melissa Stennett Deuter is originally from Eastland, Texas. At the age of 12, her family relocated to Clarksville, Tennessee, where her stepfather was stationed with the US Army, 101st Airborne Division. She graduated from Northwest High School in Clarksville in 1992 and went on to Memphis State University. She transferred to the University of Arkansas where she graduated with a BS in Biology in 1996 with honors before starting medical school at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) that same year.

Dr. Deuter attended medical school at the UAMS and graduated in 2000. She completed psychiatry residency training at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio (UTHSCSA) where she served as Chief Resident in 2003-2004.

Dr. Deuter chose UTHSCSA for psychiatry residency due to its diverse offering of clinical sites and reputation for excellent residency training. Her residency training included treating active-duty military personnel and working in a dedicated psychiatric emergency room, as well as training in depth to provide psychotherapy and exceptional instruction in the psychiatric care of children and elderly individuals. After residency, she remained actively involved as a volunteer member of the teaching faculty at UTHSCSA in the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Deuter graduated from residency and entered a private practice of psychiatry. After 10 years of solo practice left her feeling that she wasn’t doing enough to meet the public need for psychiatric services, she began planning to open a psychiatric urgent care clinic. In 2015, she opened Sigma Mental Health Urgent Care where she continues to practice and serve as Medical Director.

In 2019, Dr. Deuter began precepting medical students from the UIW School of Medicine. In 2021, Sigma Mental Health Urgent Care also became a clinical site for psychiatry residents from the Texas Institute for Graduate Medical Education and Research (TIGMER). In 2024, she took the role of Associate Program Director for TIGMER Psychiatry, and then in 2025 she became Program Director.

Dr. Deuter is a Past President of the Bexar County Psychiatric Society and serves as President of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians during Academic year 2025-2026. She is also the volunteer Director of the South Texas Psychiatric Practice Based Research Network.

She met her husband Brian Deuter at UAMS where they were in the same medical school class. They married in 2000, and they have three children: Christopher, Zachary and Mia.

• B.S. in Biology, with Honors, University of Arkansas, 1996
• M.D., University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 2000
• Psychiatry Residency, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Chief Resident, 2003–2004)