Surgeons as Educators Faculty

Dr. Schenarts is a professor of surgery and associate dean for faculty affairs at the Western Michigan University, Stryker School of Medicine. A native of Connecticut, he graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University. He received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut, where he also completed a post-sophomore fellowship in anatomic pathology.

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 for the next 12 years. While at East Carolina, Dr. Schenarts served as director of the general surgery residency, surgery clerkship, and as assistant dean for clinical academic affairs. He was then recruited to be the Chief of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Emergency General Surgery at the University of Nebraska, where he also served as vice chair of academic affairs. After 9 years in these roles, he became the associate dean for clinical affairs at the Des Monies University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, and professor 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 University of North Carolina system 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. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Society. His research interests are focused on surgical education and leadership. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, serves on 2 editorial boards, and is the editor of Surgical Clinics of North America.

He has also served the American College of Surgeons in multiple capacities, including the Committees on Trauma, Medical Student Education, Faculty Development, SESAP, the Applied Surgical Educational Leadership program, and Surgeons as Educators.

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

While in Omaha, he served as the Medical Director for Omaha Fire & EMS, the Medical Director of the Eppley Airport, and the Police Surgeon for the City of Omaha.

He is married to Kim Schenarts, PhD, a nationally respected surgical educator. His son Spencer is a freshman at Northern Michigan University, where he is majoring in Elementary Education.

Dr. Maura Sullivan is a professor of Clinical Surgery (Educational Scholar) at the Keck School of Medicine of 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. Her research and academic interests include cognitive task analysis, the development of expertise, technical skills training, faculty development, and curriculum development.

Dr. Sullivan received 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 past director of the Surgical Education Research Fellowship, a member of the Board of Directors, and on the Editorial Board for Global Surgical Education-Journal of the ASE. 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 and is the course director for the Surgeons as Educators national 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 (MGH) in 2011. Dr. Phitayakorn is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS) with a practice in general surgery and endocrine surgery and the first surgeon to be promoted along the Educator pathway in the history of the MGH. 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) and his thesis on phone communication practices won the best thesis award in 2005. Dr. Phitayakorn was an external examination consultant for the American Board of Surgery and developed medical education content for the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Phitayakorn is also a faculty member for several national medical education courses and institutions including the Harvard Macy Institute, the American College of Surgeons (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. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators as an Associate Member in 2018 and promoted to a full member (MAMSE) in 2023.

Dr. Phitayakorn is a Commissioner for the Accreditation Council on Colleges of Medicine and help accredit medical schools in the Caribbean. He is also a site reviewer for the Liaison Committee of Medical Education.

Dr. Jeremy Lipman is a professor of surgery and associate dean for graduate medical education at the Cleveland Clinic 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 co-directs the ACS AEI accredited Surgical Education Research Fellowship. He is the inaugural holder of the James E. Sampliner MD Endowed Chair in Surgical Education.

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 a member of the ACGME Review Committee for Surgery and has held leadership positions with the Association for Surgical Education and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery. He is the Chair of the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Medical Student Education and previously served as the Vice Chair of the American College of Surgeon’s Resident Prep Curriculum.

Adnan Alseidi, MD, EdM, is the Associate Dean for Assessment, Improvement, and Accreditation and a professor of clinical surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Alseidi holds national and international positions, including being a past president of the Association of Surgical Education, past president of the fellowship council, and a board member of the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. He is also a counselor on the American Board of Surgery and have over 270 peer-reviewed publications. 

Clinically, Dr. Alseidi has extensive experience with minimally invasive and open hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and endocrine surgeries. Additionally, he is interested in expanding surgical therapies for patients with locally advanced pancreas cancer and splenic preservation techniques. 

A UC, Santa Barbara, and Pennsylvania State University Medical School graduate, 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 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.