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Yale Surgery Division Chiefs Set AY2022 Goals

September 30, 2021
by Stevi Kramer and Cecelia Smith

Department of Surgery Chair Dr. Nita Ahuja presented the annual State of the Department address at Grand Rounds on September 10, 2022. Yale School of Medicine employees can access a video recording of the presentation via Box by clicking here. With efficiency set as the Department's "north star" for the coming academic year, key priorities across the missions were outlined as follows:

Department of Surgery AY22 Goals
Chair, Dr. Nita Ahuja
Executive Vice Chair Operations, Dr. Mehra Golshan

CLINICAL: Minimize operational pain points.
RESEARCH: Secure dedicated resources for surgeon scientists.
EDUCATION: Develop structured curriculum and retention pipeline for medical students.
PEOPLE: Implement “Great Place to Work” initiatives, as determined by Faculty.


Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. John Morton

CLINICAL: Increase bariatric surgery volume to 600 cases system wide
QUALITY: Offer hernia appointment within 7 days
RESEARCH: Publish data on remote monitoring for OP sleeve gastrectomy
EDUCATION: Introduce new endoscopy module


Cardiac Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Arnar Geirsson

CLINICAL: Expand clinical program at additional sites
QUALITY: Improve STS Star ratings to 3
RESEARCH: Increase NIH grant submissions
EDUCATION: Establish advanced fellowship in Aortic Surgery


Colon & Rectal Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Vikram Reddy

CLINICAL: Develop focused programs for IBD (pouch clinic etc) and rectal cancer
QUALITY: Standardize per-op, intra-op, and post-op patient management across sites
RESEARCH: Start a microbiome research program
EDUCATION: Robotic colorectal surgery program for students


General Surgery, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Kimberly Davis

CLINICAL: Recruit additional Faculty for Greenwich and L+M teams
QUALITY: EGS verification through the ACS
RESEARCH: Increased pursuit of grant funding
EDUCATION: Continue 3-decade run of successful fellowship matches


Otolaryngology AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Benjamin Judson

CLINICAL: Onboarding of AY22 recruits: Ryan Rimmer, Ansley Roche
QUALITY: Recruitment of scientists for Head & Neck and Hearing
RESEARCH: Create virtual sub-internship
EDUCATION: Establish care pathway to reduce PICU admissions


Pediatric Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Michael Caty

CLINICAL: Develop Adolescent Bariatric Surgery program
QUALITY: Lead YNHCH for ACS verification as Children’s Surgical Center
RESEARCH: Develop divisional infrastructure for outcomes research and multicenter trials
EDUCATION: Develop virtual fellowship interview, pilot resident-faculty evaluation tool


Plastic Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Bohdan Pomahac

CLINICAL: Expand gender affirmation and breast reconstruction programs
QUALITY: Standardization of care for reconstructive patients
RESEARCH: Increase outcomes funding
EDUCATION: Achieve ACGME approval for 4 residents per year


Surgical Oncology AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Ronald Salem

CLINICAL: Programmatic Expansion to Trumbull, Guilford and New London


Thoracic Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Daniel Boffa

CLINICAL: Establish clinical pathways for lung cancer for the network
QUALITY: Have at least 1 grant application receive NIH funding
RESEARCH: Establish 90 min growth block for leadership, quality, clinical excellence
EDUCATION: Optimize the cPR model of quality improvement


Transplantation AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. David Mulligan

CLINICAL: Increase transplant procedural volumes in all organs
QUALITY: Additional R grant
RESEARCH: Attending participation in surgical video review after every case with residents
EDUCATION: Enroll in TransQIP and initiate analysis


Vascular & Endovascular Surgery AY22 Goals
Division Chief, Dr. Raul Guzman

CLINICAL: Grow wRVUs by at least 10%
QUALITY: Receive 3 stars (highest rank) from VQI for quality of data collection
RESEARCH: Increase grant submissions
EDUCATION: Integrate second year of research to residency program

Submitted by Stevi Kramer on September 30, 2021