ACGME Names Mary E. Klingensmith, MD Next Chief Accreditation Officer
August 29 2024 - 1:06PM
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (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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ABOUT THE ACGME The ACGME is a private, non-profit,
professional organization responsible for the accreditation of
approximately 13,393 residency and fellowship programs and 905
institutions that sponsor these programs in the United States.
Residency and fellowship programs educate approximately 162,644
resident and fellow physicians in 146 specialties and
subspecialties. The ACGME's Mission is to improve health care and
population health by assessing and enhancing the quality of
resident and fellow physicians' education through advancements in
accreditation and education.
Susan Holub
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
sholub@acgme.org