I received my undergraduate degree from Brown University in Providence, RI and my
medical degree, cum laude, from Harvard Medical School. I served my internship and
residency in surgery at SUNY and then completed fellowships in surgical critical care and
surgery of trauma at Jackson Memorial Hospital Department of Surgery, and University of
Miami School of medicine in Florida. I served on the faculty of the University of Miami
from 1992-1999 where I achieved the academic rank of Associate Professor of Surgery and
served as the Director of the Trauma Intensive Care Unit and Interim Director of the
Trauma Service at Jackson Memorial Hospital. I received a Physician Executive MBA
from the University of Tennessee in 2015.
From 1999-2016 I was the Ludwig J. Pyrtek, MD, Chair in Surgery, Chief of the Department
of Surgery, Chief of the Division of General Surgery, and Associate Director of the Surgical
Intensive Care Unit at Hartford Hospital, Connecticut, where I was also Chief of Trauma
2012-2016. In addition, from 2009-2013, I was the Program Director for the University of
Connecticut General Surgery Residency training program
I am a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery with additional qualifications in surgical
critical care. I am a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the American
College of Critical Care Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, a
Fellow of the College of Philadelphia Physicians; and a member of the Society of
University Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, and the Academy of Master
Surgical Educators.
In 2014 the Society of Critical Care Medicine bestowed on me the distinction of Master of
Critical Care medicine. I served as President of the Surgical Section of the National Medical
Association, President of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, President of the
Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and currently I am the President
of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery.I have served on the Board of Directors for the
Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the
Surgical Section of the National Medical Association, the Society of Black Academic
Surgeons, and the Board of Managers of the American Association for the Surgery of
Trauma. I currently serve on the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors. I have
published extensively in peer-reviewed journals as well as authored numerous chapters and
textbooks on surgical critical care, acute care surgery, trauma, and surgical education. The
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practice of surgical critical care remains my clinical passion.
In summary, my areas of continued engagement are medical education, surgical residency
training, clinical operations, and diversity, equity, and inclusion – building collaboration,
policy development and implementation. I view myself as an educator, an academician, and
an advocate for promoting and empowering success and accomplishments of individuals. I
have been in academic medicine since my Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Fellowships at
the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital. I have been involved in over 185
individual graduates from general surgery residency programs where I was either faculty,
associate residency Program Director, or general surgery residency Program Director; and
have taught and mentored countless medical students over my 32+ year career. I have held
academic and administrative leadership positions at hospitals, state and national societies,
was the past president of four major medical organizations, sat on multiple society boards,
and received multiple teaching awards and recognition at several medical schools, including
the University of Miami, University of Connecticut, and Thomas Jefferson University.
