Patricia L. Turner

Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, is the executive director and chief executive officer of the American College of Surgeons and a clinical professor at the University of Chicago. The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 89,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. Dr. Turner was previously director of the Division of Member Services at the American College of Surgeons, and prior to joining the College, Dr. Turner was in full‐time academic practice on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she was the surgery residency program director. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, Dr. Turner continued her training as an intern and resident in surgery at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. Her fellowship training in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery was completed at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill‐Cornell University School of Medicine, and Columbia University School of Medicine in New York City. Her MBA was completed at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. Dr. Turner is boardcertified in surgery, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the American Surgical Association, American Medical Association, National Medical Association, Southern Surgical Association, Southeastern Surgical Congress, Society of University Surgeons, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, Latino Surgical Society, and an honorary member of the Asociación Colombiana de Cirugia. Throughout her career, Dr. Turner has been involved in both basic science and clinical research. Her early bench research in neurobiology and anatomy focused on avian neuron apoptosis. During residency, she spent two years as a senior staff fellow at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Her work there focused on the dysregulation of sodium transport in the kidney and nitric oxide’s role in the changing abundance of nephron transporter proteins. Dr. Turner’s current research interests are associated with her clinical expertise in laparoscopic surgery, including developing new training paradigms for both residents and more experienced surgeons. Her commitment to advancing new approaches to abdominal surgery places her squarely at the forefront of developing technologies in medicine. Her clinical interests include minimally invasive gastrointestinal and endocrine surgeries. She has also emerged as an innovator in quality improvement and clinical outcomes research. Her role as the ACS‐NSQIP surgeon champion for the University of Maryland provided opportunities for complication prevention and quality improvement interventions on both small and large scales. She has published and presented widely on topics related to minimally invasive surgery, quality improvement, surgical outcomes, graduate surgical education, change management, innovation, and leadership. Dr. Turner is consistently described as a superb clinician, educator, communicator, leader, and advocate for her patients, surgeons, women, and underrepresented minorities in medicine. In addition to her clinical and research activities, she is a leading advocate for post‐graduate education reform and for research in the organized medicine arena. She played a pivotal role in developing policy on biomedical research, training, and refining the way in which surgeons are trained while a member of the Surgery Residency Review Committee, the Blue Ribbon Committee on Surgical Education of the American Surgical Association, the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs, and the Association of Academic Surgery Ethics Committee. Dr. Turner’s leadership roles in national professional organizations or institutions include member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, for which she also serves as President‐Elect, and OceanFirst Bank (OCFC), immediate past‐chair of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons Foundation Fund, past chair of the American College of Surgeons’ Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates, AMA Council on Medical Education, and Surgical Section of the NMA, and past president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. In addition, Dr. Turner has served on the Board of the AMA Foundation and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, reflecting her commitment to supporting the performing arts.