Surgeons as Educators Faculty

A native of Connecticut, Dr. Schenarts graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University and received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut, where he also completed a post-sophomore fellowship in anatomic pathology and was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Dr. Schenarts completed his general surgery residency at Maine Medical Center, during which he also completed a two-year NIH trauma research fellowship in the investigational intensive care unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After residency, he completed a trauma and surgical critical care fellowship at Vanderbilt University and then served as co-medical director of Vanderbilt Life Flight. He was then recruited to East Carolina University School of Medicine, where he spent the next 12 years. While at East Carolina, Dr. Schenarts served as director of the general surgery residency, assistant dean for clinical academic affairs, and director of the surgery clerkship. He was then recruited to Nebraska to be the chief of trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency surgery at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, a post he held until 2019. For 7 years Dr. Schenarts served as the medical director of the Omaha Fire Department and is currently the medical director for the Omaha Police Department. He is also the associate dean for clinical affairs at the Des Moines University, College of Osteopathic Medicine and holds a professorship at Creighton University, School of Medicine.

Dr. Schenarts is a nationally known surgical educator and has won numerous teaching awards including the University Board of Governors Award as one of the best teachers within the entire University of North Carolina system consisting of 17 colleges and universities. He was also the recipient of the Master Educator Award, the Jones Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Best Clinical Educator Award, and has also received the National Outstanding Teacher Award from the Association for Surgical Education. Similarly, his research interests are focused on surgical education and leadership.

In addition to his academic and clinical pursuits, Dr. Schenarts was a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and has served four deployments in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. He has served as commander of forward surgical teams and chief of surgery at combat support hospitals. He has received the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal for his actions in Afghanistan.

Dr. Maura Sullivan is a professor of clinical surgery (educational scholar) at the University of Southern California. She is the vice chair for education in the Department of Surgery, and the executive director for the Surgical Simulation and Education Center. She has a joint appointment in the Rossier School of Education where she is a professor and a senior research associate. Her research and academic interests include Cognitive-Task-Analysis, the development of expertise, technical skills training, faculty development, and curriculum development.

Dr. Sullivan obtained her undergraduate degree in nursing from Fairfield University, her Master of Science in nursing/critical care from the University of California, San Francisco, and her PhD in Educational Psychology from the Rossier School of Education at USC. She is actively involved in the Association of Surgical Education (ASE) and is the Director of the Surgical Education Research Fellowship, a member of the Board of Directors and a member of the grants review committee, Center for Excellence in Surgical Education, Research and Training (CESERT). She is the recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Master Educator Award from the ASE. In addition, she holds an appointment with the American College of Surgeons as an ATLS Educator, is the Co-Editor-In Chief for the Resources in Surgical Education peer review online journal, is a member of the leadership team for the development of an online assessment tool to measure readiness on incoming PGY 1 residents to assume clinical duties, and is the Course Director for the Surgeons As Educators Course. 

Dr. David A. Rogers is a professor in the Departments of Surgery, with secondary appointments in the Departments of Medical Education and Pediatrics and an adjunct appointment in the Collat School of Business. He served as the senior associate dean of faculty affairs and professional development at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine from 2012 until 2021 and continues to serve as the co-director of the UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy. He was named the UAB medicine chief wellness officer and was appointed to the W. Stancil Starnes ProAssurance Endowed Chair of Physician Wellness in 2018. Dr. Rogers received his medical degree from the University of South Florida and completed his general surgery training at the Medical College of Georgia. He subsequently completed his pediatric general surgery training at the University of Tennessee at Memphis and a pediatric surgery oncology fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He received a Masters of Health Professions Education degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed the Surgical Education Research Fellowship program sponsored by the Association for Surgical Education.

Before he began his administrative leadership roles, Dr. Rogers led an active research program in surgical education and served as a surgery clerkship director. He continues to be involved in surgical education and has served as the Course Chair of the American College of Surgeon’s Residents as Teachers and Leaders program and is the Co-Chair of the American College of Surgeons Faculty Development Committee. He also serves as a co-director of the Association for Surgical Education SERF program. A recipient of numerous departmental and institutional teaching awards, Dr. Rogers is a 2012 recipient of an Association for Surgical Education Distinguished Educator Award.

Dr. Roy Phitayakorn completed his residency training in general surgery at Case Western Reserve University in 2009 and an endocrine surgery fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 2011. Dr. Phitayakorn is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS) with a practice in general surgery and endocrine surgery. Dr. Phitayakorn is also the MGH Department of Surgery vice chair of education where he oversees the medical student (pre-clinical, clinical clerkship, and post-clerkship electives/subinternship), residency (five surgical programs), and fellowship (seven surgical fellowships) programs. He is also the co-director of the American College of Surgeons-accredited MGH Surgery Education Research and Simulation Fellowship program and chair of the HMS Surgery Education Committee.

Dr. Phitayakorn has a Master’s degree in Medical Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago (MHPE). Dr. Phitayakorn was an external examination consultant for the American Board of Surgery and develops medical education content for the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Dr. Phitayakorn is also a faculty member for several national medical education courses and institutions including the Harvard Macy Institute, the ACS Surgeons as Educators course, the Institute of Medical Simulation, the ACS Surgical Education Principles and Practice course, the ACS Certificate in Applied Surgical Education Leadership, and the Harvard Medical School Training to Teachers Egypt, Mongolia, and China programs.

Dr. Jeremy Lipman is a professor of surgery at the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He serves as the designated institutional official and director of graduate medical education at Cleveland Clinic where he is a staff colorectal surgeon and also co-directs the ACS accredited Surgical Education Research Fellowship.

He received his medical degree from Drexel University, College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed residency in General Surgery at Case Western Reserve University followed by fellowship training in Colorectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic where he received the “outstanding clinical fellow” award. He has also earned a Masters in Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois, Chicago and completed the Surgical Education Research Fellowship program sponsored by the Association for Surgical Education.

He is the former program director of the General Surgery residency at Cleveland Clinic and prior Surgery Clerkship Director at MetroHealth Medical Center. He has received numerous teaching awards including the Philip J. Wolfson Outstanding Teacher Award from the Association for Surgical Education. He is actively involved with and serves on the Board of the Association for Surgical Education and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery. He is the associate director and an educator for the ASE Surgical Education & Leadership Fellowship and previously served as the Vice Chair of the American College of Surgeon’s Resident Prep Curriculum.

Adnan Alseidi, MD, EdM, FACS is professor of clinical surgery and vice chair for education in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

He is a gastrointestinal surgeon specializing in surgical care for conditions involving the liver, bile duct, pancreas, and endocrine system. He has particular interests in minimally invasive techniques, spleen preservation techniques, immunology studies, and surgery for patients with locally advanced pancreas cancer.

Dr. Alseidi's research focuses on surgical education, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and methods to improve patients' outcomes with liver, pancreas, and biliary cancers. He has received grants to create registries for minimally invasive pancreas and liver surgeries as part of an international collaboration with studies focusing on improving patient outcomes. He also studies deep learning networks and artificial intelligence to enhance patient care during surgery and minimize postoperative complications. His research has resulted in the publication of hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, many invitations to present as Visiting Professor, as well as at national and international conferences.    

Dr. Alseidi holds many national and international positions, including: incoming president of the fellowship council (FC), the immediate past president of the association for surgical education (ASE), and the chair for training and education for HPB surgery for the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).

A graduate of UC, Santa Barbara and Pennsylvania State University Medical School, Dr. Alseidi completed his general surgery residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Following graduation from residency, he served as a surgeon in the US Navy and as a Co-director of the Surgery Department at the US Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan. Dr. Alseidi completed an HPB and advanced GI fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and earned a master's degree in surgical education at Southern Illinois University/University of Illinois-UC.

Before joining UCSF, Dr. Alseidi was an attending hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and endocrine surgeon at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA (2011-2020) where he held the roles of Director of the HPB Clinical Fellowship, Surgical Simulation Training, and Associate Program Director of the general surgery residency.