Dr. Tarbox earned her medical degree at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine where she graduated at the top of her class and was recognized for her outstanding surgical skills with the Francis C. Jackson Award for Excellence in Surgery. Dr. Tarbox then completed her internship in Internal Medicine and her Dermatology Residency at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in Ohio where she was recognized for her patient care and dedication to teaching. During her senior year in residency, Michelle successfully applied for a Women’s Dermatologic Society Mentorship Grant and traveled to Sydney, Australia to study dermoscopy with Dr. Scott Menzies at the Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Institute.  She completed a dermatopathology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic following successful completion of her residency. She then served as an Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Dermatopathology for three years at St. Louis University in Missouri where she was recognized as the Teacher of the Year for her department in 2012.

In 2013, she returned to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center where she currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Dermatology and Dermatopathology. She served as the Assistant Dean for Medical Student Affairs from 2015 to 2020. She was awarded the Dean’s Clinical Teaching Award in 2016 and the early career award for excellence from the Lubbock County Medical Society.  Dr. Tarbox is also a regular volunteer with the Lubbock Impact Free Clinic and was honored with the Community Service Award from the Lubbock County Medical Society in 2022. Dr. Tarbox has lectured for the AAD, the Brazilian Dermatologic Society, The Mexican Association of Dermatology, The European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, the World Congress of Dermatology  and the American Society of Dermatopathologists on topics ranging from dermoscopy to cosmetic dermatology, to infectious diseases, maintenance of certification, patient satisfaction, clinicopathologic correlations, and dermatopathology.  For the past several years, she has also been a co-host and co-creator of the Dermasphere Podcast which now has over 140 episodes with over 450,000 total plays and an average audience size of 3,000 – 4,000 dermatologists, and dermatologically interested allied health professionals and medical students. She and her co-host Luke Johnson review recent practice relevant articles in the world of dermatology every two weeks on the Dermasphere Podcast.