Mary E. Klingensmith, MD, FACS

Founding Director, Academy of Educators

Mary E. Klingensmith, MD is the Mary Culver Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair for Education in Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she has been on faculty since 2000. Dr. Klingensmith was Residency Training Program Director in General Surgery at WashU from 2001–2012. She serves as Associate Director for the School of Medicine Simulation Center, and has been a Loeb Teaching Fellow at the medical school for four years. She is the founding director of the medical school’s Academy of Educators.

Dr. Klingensmith’s clinical practice is in general surgery at Barnes Hospital and the John Cochran VA Hospital. Her research interests are in surgical education, including curricular reform, simulation curricula, surgical ethics, and the impact of regulations on student, resident and faculty perceptions of the field of surgery. Dr. Klingensmith served as a director for the American Board of Surgery (2011–2018, Board Chair 2017-18) and of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (2012–15). Additionally, she is Chair of the Advisory Council for SCORE (Surgical Council on Resident Education), and oversees content for the web portal as President of SCORE, Inc. Dr. Klingensmith is recipient of the 2005 ASE Outstanding Teacher Award and 2012 ACGME Courage to Teach Award. She is past President of the Association for Surgical Education.

Select publications

1. Klingensmith ME, Cogbill TH, Luchette, F, Biester, T, Samonte, K, Jones A, Malangoni, MA. Factors Influencing the Decision of Surgery Residency Graduates to Pursue General Surgery Practice Versus Fellowship. Annals of Surgery. 2015;262:449–455.
2. Klingensmith ME. The Future of General Surgery Residency Education. JAMA Surgery. 2016;151(3):207–208.
3. Klingensmith ME, Potts JR, Merrill WH, Eberlein TJ, Rhodes RS, Ashley SW, Valentine RJ, Hunter JG, Stain SC. Surgical Training and the Early Specialization Program: Analysis of a National Program. J American College of Surgeons. 2016;222(4):416–418.
4. Cullinan DR, Wise PE, Delman KA, Potts JR, Awad MM, Eberlein TJ, Klingensmith ME. Interim Analysis of a Prospective Multi-Institutional Study of Surgery Resident Experience with Flexibility in Surgical Training. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2018;226: 425–431.
5. Brasel KJ, Klingensmith ME, Englander R, Grambau M, Buyske J, Sarosi G, Minter R. Entrustable Professional Activities in General Surgery: Development and Implementation. Journal of Surgical Education. 2019;76(5):1174–1186.