Smink assumes role as Chief of Surgery

Douglas Smink, MD, MPH, recently assumed the role of Chief of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Dr. Smink also serves as Associate Chair of Education in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and until June of 2020 as the Program Director of the General Surgery Residency. He is well known to the BWFH community, caring for patients in the Surgical Specialties practice and operating room since 2017.

Dr. Smink received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine before completing his residency in General Surgery at BWH and a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Surgical Education and was recently selected by the American College of Surgeons to the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.

His clinical interests include abdominal wall hernias, foregut surgery and biliary tract disease and his research focuses on resident and faculty education and how to teach communication, leadership and decision-making to surgeons and surgical teams. He is the co-leader of the Surgical Culture Program at BWH’s Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH) and a co-PI on the NIH R01 Provider Awareness Cultural Dexterity Toolkit for Surgeons (PACTS) grant. He is also the co-director of the Surgical Coaching for Operative Performance Enhancement (SCOPE) Program at Ariadne Labs.

In his new role as Chief of Surgery, Dr. Smink looks forward to expanding his role in the OR at BWFH. “I am excited to carry on the legacy of Dr. Pardon Kenney. We have an incredibly talented team here in the OR at BWFH, and I look forward to working together with them to deliver the safest and highest quality surgical care to our patients.”

Dr. Smink and his wife Kara Tierney have two girls and two boys. When he is not on the sideline of one of his children’s sporting events, Dr. Smink likes to play ice hockey himself.