The ACGME is pleased to announce that Mary E. Klingensmith, MD will assume the role of Chief Accreditation Officer effective August 31. In her new role, Dr. Klingensmith will lead activities related to the Review and Recognition Committees for graduate medical education (GME). This includes ensuring Review Committee accreditation activities are properly recorded and communicated, that Review Committees are adhering to accreditation policies and procedures, and continually refining the ACGME’s accreditation model, as well as overseeing activities related to data use, operational policies, interdepartmental efforts, and more.
Dr. Klingensmith joined the ACGME in September 2021 as Senior Vice President, Accreditation and was promoted to Associate Chief Accreditation Officer in July 2023. In her time in these roles, she has assisted in improving efficiency and consistency of accreditation processes; helped to lead the GME community in the integration of more competency-based medical education principles in the education and training environment through co-hosted symposia with the American Board of Medical Specialties and in major revisions of specialty-specific Program Requirements; and worked with other ACGME leaders to revise policies and procedures around major disruptions and accreditation of combined residency and fellowship programs. She will also play an integral role in the forthcoming major revision of the ACGME Common Program Requirements.
Prior to joining the ACGME, Dr. Klingensmith was the Mary Culver Distinguished Professor and former Vice Chair for Education in Surgery at Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis, Missouri. WashU Surgery recently established an endowed annual lectureship in her honor, and education space in the department bears her name. She was also the program director for the general surgery residency at WashU from 2001-2012, served as associate director for the Simulation Center, and was a Loeb Teaching Fellow at the School of Medicine. Dr. Klingensmith is board certified in surgery and practiced general surgery at the John Cochran VA Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis.
“Dr. Klingensmith has been a tremendous addition to the ACGME since joining just a few years ago. Her work has more than equipped her for this next step in helping the ACGME enhance its accreditation standards and operations, and we look forward to her leadership and contributions for years to come,” said ACGME President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP.
Dr. Klingensmith served as a director for the American Board of Surgery (ABS), including as its chair in 2017-2018, and for the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Additionally, she served as vice president of the ABS, where she directed its Competency-Based Education Project and for 12 years led SCORE [Surgical Council on Resident Education], a unified curriculum for education and training in surgery that is delivered via a web portal. Dr. Klingensmith has served on the Committee on Certification for the American Board of Medical Specialties, including as vice chair of that committee and as past president of the Association for Surgical Education (ASE). She currently represents the ACGME on the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and American Surgical Association’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Surgical Education.
“I am pleased and honored to serve the ACGME in this new role and look forward to working with my colleagues at the ACGME and in GME around the globe to help advance quality care for patients and excellence in graduate medical education,” said Dr. Klingensmith.
Originally from Beckley, West Virginia, Dr. Klingensmith completed medical school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a general surgery residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
She has received several awards, honors, and positions of distinction throughout her career, including being an inaugural inductee of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators in 2018 and participation in the Hedwig van Amerigen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program in 2018-2019. Dr. Klingensmith is a recipient of the 2005 ASE Outstanding Teacher Award, and of the 2012 ACGME Courage to Teach Award, which honors program directors who find innovative ways to teach residents/fellows and to provide quality health care while remaining connected to the initial impulse to care for others in this environment.
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