Success in Academic Surgery: Developing a Career in Surgical Education

Carla Pugh, MD, PhD, FACS is a Professor of Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (T.E.C.I.) Center. She is reported to be the first surgeon in the United States to obtain a PhD in Education. Her clinical area of expertise is Acute Care Surgery and her research involves the use of simulation and advanced engineering technologies to develop new approaches for assessing and defining competency in clinical procedural skills. Dr. Pugh holds three patents on the use of sensor and data acquisition technology to measure and characterize hands-on clinical skills. Currently, over two hundred medical and nursing schools are using one of her sensor enabled training tools for their students and trainees. Her work has received numerous awards from medical and engineering organizations. In 2011, Dr. Pugh received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barak Obama at the WhiteHouse. She is considered to be a leading, international expert on the use of sensors and motion tracking technologies for performance measurement. In 2014, she was invited to give a TEDMED talk on the potential uses of technology to transform how we measure clinical skills in medicine. Recently, Dr. Pugh was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering as well as the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.ed into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering as well as the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.  

Rebecca S. Sippel, MD, Professor of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA. Dr. Sippel is certified by the American Board of Surgery. She is Vice Chair of Academic Affairs and Professional Development and Chief of the Division of Endocrine Surgery. She is a Past President of the Association of Academic Surgery and serves as the Endocrine Surgery Fellowship Director at the University of Wisconsin. She specializes in endocrine surgery and surgical treatment of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. She runs a highly-productive, funded, clinical research program focusing on the diagnosis and management of patients with endocrine disorders and the outcomes of patients after surgery.  She is a well-respected surgical educator and in additional to her role as fellowship director has previously served as a clerkship director and maintains active involvement in the medical school and within the residency training program.