Minimally invasive general surgeon joins Brigham and Women’s Surgical Specialties at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital

Douglas S. Smink, MD, MPH, a minimally invasive general surgeon, recently began seeing patients at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in the Brigham and Women’s Surgical Specialties group. Dr. Smink, who is also an Associate Professor in Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will focus on ventral and inguinal hernia, gallbladder disease, hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux here at BWFH.

Dr. Smink studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and earned his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. He trained in general surgery at BWH and in minimally invasive surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. His clinical interests include foregut surgery, biliary tract disease and abdominal wall hernias. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Surgical Education and as a member of the editorial board of SCORE (Surgical Council on Resident Education). His research focuses on resident and faculty education through simulation. He is also co-leader of the Surgical Culture program at the Center for Surgery and Public Health, where he studies how to teach communication, leadership and decision-making to surgeons and surgical teams.

At BWFH, Dr. Smink looks forward to working with a new patient population and a new group of colleagues. “I will be seeing clinic patients regularly for preoperative or postoperative evaluation,” he says of his new role. “I am also the Director of Clinic Operations in General/GI Surgery at both BWH and BWFH, so I am eager to see patients in the general surgery clinic at BWFH.”

When he is not at work, Dr. Smink enjoys playing golf and ice hockey. He keeps busy coaching his kids’ ice hockey teams.