Kimberly Davis, MD, MBA, FACS, FCCM
Professor of Surgery (General, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care)Cards
About
Titles
Professor of Surgery (General, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care)
Chief of the Division of General Surgery, Trauma, and Surgical Critical Care, Surgery; Trauma Medical Director, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Surgical Director, Performance and Quality Improvement, Yale-New Haven Hospital
Biography
Dr. Davis is Professor of Surgery at the Yale School of Medicine Department of Surgery. She is the Chief of the Division of General Surgery, Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Yale, as well as the Trauma Medical Director for Yale New Haven Hospital, an American College of Surgeons verified and Connecticut Department of Health designated Level One Trauma Center for both adult and pediatric patients. Dr. Davis also serves as the Surgical Director of Quality and Performance Improvement for Yale-New Haven Hospital and formerly as the NSQIP Surgeon Champion. After earning a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, she attended Albany Medical College and received her surgical training from the Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital program. Following a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of Tennessee - Memphis, she spent eight years on the faculty at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois prior to returning to Yale in 2006. Dr. Davis received her MBA from the Yale School of Management Leadership in Healthcare program in 2012. She is the President Elect of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Secretary of the Western Trauma Association. She serves on the National Committee on Trauma, is a Past-President of the Connecticut chapter of the American College of Surgeons and recently retired from the Board of Governors. She is a Past President of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the former Chief of Region I for the Committee on Trauma. She has held leadership positions in several other regional and national organizations. She has published extensively in medical literature, with over 200 peer reviewed publications. She is an Associate Editor of Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open, serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Annals of Surgery, the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation and Current Trauma Reports, and is an ad hoc reviewer for 10 other critical care and surgical journals.
Dr. Davis is board certified in surgery and surgical critical care. Her research interests are in the fields of performance improvement and quality.
Appointments
General Surgery, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care
Section ChiefDualGeneral Surgery, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- MBA
- Yale School of Management (2012)
- Fellow
- University of Tennessee (1998)
- Resident
- Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital (1996)
- Intern
- Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital (1992)
- MD
- Albany Medical College (1991)
- BS
- Yale University (1985)
Research
Overview
Medical Research Interests
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
Clinical Care
Overview
Kimberly Davis, MD, MBA, is chief of general surgery, trauma and surgical critical care for Yale Medicine, and medical director of trauma for Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). She leads a team of 10 surgeons, and has performed thousands of operations.
“My mother will tell you that I was programmed to be a surgeon,” says Dr. Davis. “But I'm not a surgeon who wants to do the same operation day in and day out.” As a general surgeon, Dr. Davis can operate on any part of the body, although she performs operations in the abdominal cavity, usually using minimally invasive techniques. As she focuses on both elective and emergency surgery, Dr. Davis often treats patients who find themselves in situations they never anticipated.
As a trauma surgeon and critical care doctor, she spends about a third of her time treating seriously ill and injured patients. What attracts Dr. Davis to this field is the ability to render care to patients and their families when they may be at their most vulnerable. As she says, “No one expects to be in a severe car wreck or have a life threatening surgical disease.” The sudden nature of emergencies disrupts the life of the patient and their family. The opportunity to help a patient return to their prior state of health is “the ultimate reward” in medicine, she says.
“I think people underestimate how prepared we are for patients with critical problems,” says Dr. Davis. “We have surgical specialists in the hospital 24/7. For urgent issues, we can transfer patients from the emergency room to the operating room in 10 minutes. We also provide a cadre of support personnel to assist patients and their families in navigating through their health crises.”
One of Dr. Davis’ most treasured experiences involved treating a young man after “an extreme case of interpersonal violence. “I performed his initial surgery. He required multiple surgical interventions and saw many different doctors. About three weeks into his hospital course, I walked into his room and introduced myself to him again. He looked at me and said, ‘You're the one who saved my life. Thank you.’ ” Being able to intervene in a time of crisis is extremely rewarding, she says.
A professor of surgery at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Davis is also passionate about quality improvement, which she has promoted on a national level. She has served as a “surgeon champion” for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and is currently surgical director of quality and performance improvement at YNHH.
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Tracheostomy
Learn More on Yale MedicineSmall Intestine Adenocarcinoma
Learn More on Yale MedicineBrain Injury
Learn More on Yale MedicineConcussion Testing
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Surgical Critical Care Medicine
- Certification Organization
- AB of Surgery
- Latest Certification Date
- 2015
- Original Certification Date
- 1997
Surgery General
- Certification Organization
- AB of Surgery
- Latest Certification Date
- 2018
- Original Certification Date
- 1997
Yale Medicine News
News
News
- May 02, 2024
Yale Surgeons Recognized by Connecticut Magazine's 2024 “Top Doctors” List
- November 29, 2023
Department of Surgery Chiefs Find Their Celebrity Doppelganger
- September 05, 2021Source: WTNH
Ceasefire Connecticut: Communities across CT praying for an end to gunfire
- June 18, 2018
Surgery Grand Rounds Commemorates 100 Years of Women in Surgery and a Future of Inclusion