Surgical Simulation and Education Research Fellowship at UTMB

Alexander Perez, MD, FACS 
Alexander Perez, MD, MSHCT, FACS
Fellowship Director
Biography
Email: aleperez@utmb.edu


Past Fellows

Current Fellow

Research Fellow Page Nav

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    Specific goals include: 

    1. Develop and train surgical residents for successful careers as surgeon educators and educational leaders
    2. Provide trainees the skills and knowledge to serve as future leaders in simulation and directors of simulation centers
    3. Produce and disseminate high-impact research in the field of surgical education and simulation
    4. Equip trainees with the expertise to develop and acquire funding for projects involving simulation-based surgical training

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    Overview of Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship Curriculum:

    Our fellowship program has a robust curriculum for our fellows including weekly Departmental educational conferences, monthly educational workshops through the School of Medicine, faculty development opportunities, mentoring and mentee relationships with surgical and other scholarly faculty, contributing in resident and medical student activities, and attendance in local, regional and nationally recognized educational conferences, to name a few. Fellows will also enroll in the ASE Surgical Education Research Fellowship (SERF) program. In addition, fellows will be able to apply for the UTMB Scholars in Education Program, which is a 21-month interdisciplinary program inspiring educators to become scholars, leaders, and innovators in their fields. This structured program includes learning focused on educational research design and methodology, curriculum development and evaluation, use of technology in education, and applying different teaching methods.

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    Fellows will attend regular developmental meetings and seminars which include the following:

    • Weekly Surgical Education
    • Weekly Morbidity and Mortality conference
    • Weekly Department of Surgery formal research meetings 
    • Monthly Simulation Education Fellow Conference 
    • Monthly workshops via the Academy of Master Teachers and Office of Educational Development
    • Monthly Department of Surgery and Office of Educational Development journal club 
    • Weekly collaborative meetings in the Health Education Center
    • Yearly Faculty Development Day and Educational Week
    • ACS AEI Virtual Grand Rounds
    • ACS-AEI Surgical Summit
    • Texas Association of Surgical Simulation Laboratories (TASSL)
    • Association for Surgical Education
    • Other local, regional and national surgical educational conferences

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    Fellows will have experiential learning opportunities with the following:

    • Procedural training and assessment
    • Simulated patients for training and assessments
    • Team training and assessment
    • Feedback and debriefing
    • Teaching and assessing communication skills and professionalism
    • Teaching teachers
    • Administration
    • Assessment of teaching and evaluation

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    Fellow Applications Accepted from October 1st to December 31st for positions beginning the following year on July 1st.

    Requirements:

    Applicants are required to have completed 2 years of a surgical residency and should provide the following documents: a one-page statement of interest regarding the applicant's career goals and reasons for completing the fellowship and an up-to-date CV. Please be informed that we do not sponsor any visas.

    Candidates of interest will be interviewed between December and January and notified of selection by January 31st.

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    For additional information regarding the fellowship, please contact: LSTAR@utmb.edu
    Learn more about Galveston, TX and our UTMB community: https://www.utmb.edu/utmbliving/

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    LSTAR has been instrumental in the following publications & presentations:

    Peer-reviewed Publications 

    1. Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Williams TP, Radhaskrishnan RS, Tyler DS, Perez A. General Surgery Resident Utilization of Electronic Resources: 15 Minutes a Day. 
      Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2020;230(4): 442-448. 

    1. Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Williams TP, Tran S. Surgical Jeopardy: Play to Learn. Journal of Surgical Research. 2021;257: 9-14. 

    1. Williams TP, Snyder C, Hancock KJ, Iglesias NJ, Sommerhalder C, Delao SC, Chacin A, Perez A. Development of a Low-Cost, High Fidelity Model for Skin Suturing. Journal of Surgical Research. 2020;256:618-622. 

    1. Sommerhalder C, Chacin AC, Williams TP, Delao SC, Snyder CL, Kahrig KM, Perez A. Utilizing In-Hospital Fabrication to Decrease Simulation Costs and Increase Fidelity. Journal of Surgical Research. Manuscript In-Press. 

    1. Iglesias NJ, Williams TP, Snyder CL, Sommerhalder C, Perez A. Value Analysis of Central Line Simulation-Based Education. The American Surgeon. Manuscript In-Press. 

    1. Hughes BD, Cass SH, Uddin H, Williams TP, Okereke IC. Effects of mentorship using surgical simulation for economically disadvantaged high school students. Research in Higher Education Journal. Volume 39, June 2020, 203213. 

    1. Mohan N, Hughes BD, Williams TP, Perez A, Tyler DS, Okereke IC. Use of Surgical Simulation by Underrepresented High School Students to Address Diversity Gaps in Surgery. Annals of Surgery Open. 2020;1(2):e013.  

    1. Williams TP, Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Radhakrishnan RS, Tyler DS, Perez A. Learning to Read: Successful Program-Based Remediation Using the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) Curriculum. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2020;S1072-7515(20)32586-2 

    1. Williams TP, Klimberg VS, Perez A. Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery (TEAMS). Journal of Surgical Oncology. In-Press. 

    1. Mazzola Poli de Figueiredo, S, Lu, RL, Tyler, DS, Mao, RD, Perez, A. (2021). A Case Report and a Contemporary Review of Incarcerated and Strangulated Obturator Hernia Repair. International Journal of Abdominal Wall and Hernia Surgery. 4:166-73.   

    1. McClintic, J., Snyder, C., Brown, K. (2018). Curricular Innovation in the Surgery Clerkship: Can Assessment Methods Influence Development of Critical Thinking and Clinical Skills? Journal of Surgical Education. Volume 75/Number 5 September/October 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg. 2018.02.012. 

    1. West, H., Loftin, C., & Snyder, C. (2017). Chapter 2, Curriculum Design (pp. 13-24). In G. Kayingo & V.M. Hass (Eds.), The Health Professions Educator: A Practical Guide for New and Established Faculty. Springer Publishing Company. 

     

    Presentations and Abstracts  

    1. McClintic, J., Snyder, C., & Brown, K. Podium Presentation: “Using Simulation to Assess Indirect Supervision Readiness for ACGME Common Program Requirements.” American College of Surgeons, Academic Surgical Congress. Las Vegas, NV, 2017. 

    1. Snyder, C. Workshop Presentation: “Beyond the Multiple Choice Question: Constructing Effective Scoring Rubrics to Capture Critical Thinking in Medical Training.” 37th Annual Meeting of the Association for Surgical Education. San Diego, CA, 2017. 

    1. Brown, K. & Snyder, C. Podium Presentation: “Disruptive Innovation in a Surgery Clerkship: Teaching and Measuring Clinical Reasoning in an MCQ World.” Podium Presentation: 37th Annual Meeting of the Association for Surgical Education. San Diego, CA, 2017. 

    1. Jain, S., Snyder, C., West, H., Baxley, S., Spector, S. et al. Workshop Presentation: “Perception of mistreatment/unprofessionalism towards the learner: Using scenario-based videos and discussion.” Texas Academies Collaborative for the Health Professions- Southeast (TEACH-S) Educational Symposium. Houston, TX. May 11, 2018.  

    1. West, H., Snyder, C., & Shell, L. Panel Presentation. “You are in the Spotlight: Optimizing your educator portfolio. Physician Assistant Education Association Annual Conference. Anaheim, CA, October 24, 2018. 

    1. Alton, S. & Snyder, C. Small-Group Discussion Platform: “Debriefing learning activities.” Texas Academies Collaborative for the Health Professions- Southeast (TEACH-S) Educational Symposium. Houston, TX, May 11, 2018. 

    1. Snyder, C. Sharps Awareness, Orthopedics Grand Rounds for the Department of Orthopedics. League City, Tx. Jan 2019 

    1. Williams TP., Wenholz AR, Reynolds TS, Okereke IC. Mentorship Using Surgical Simulation for Economically Disadvantaged High School Students.  Oral presentation at Academic Surgical Congress, February 2019, Houston, TX. 

    1. Smith-Phillips, M., Schatte, D., Snyder, C., Murray, M., Thompson, K., Urbani, MJ. Small-Group Discussion: “Students and the EMR.” Texas Academies Collaborative for the Health Professions- Southeast (TEACH-S) Educational Symposium, Galveston, Texas, May 2019. 

    1. West, H., Niebuhr, V., Elferink, L., Lea, P., Karnath, B., Dacso, M., Snyder, C. When a CV is Not Enough: Using an Educator Portfolio to Show Evidence of Teaching. Workshop: Texas Academies Collaborative for the Health Professions- Southeast (TEACH-S) Educational Symposium, Galveston, Texas, May 2019. 

    1. Smith-Phillips, M., Schatte, D., Snyder, C., Murray, M., Thompson, K., Urbani, MJ. Workshop Presentation: “Students and the EMR.” Association of American Medical Colleges- Southern Group for Educational Affairs Conference. Orlando, FL, March, 2019. 

    1. Smith-Phillips, M., Schatte, D., Snyder, C., Murray, M., Thompson, K., Urbani, MJ. Workshop     Presentation: “Students and the EMR.” 2019 Innovations in Health Science Education Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, February 21-22, 2019. 

    1. Alton, S. & Snyder, C.  Workshop Presentation: “Incorporating Debriefing into Learning Activities” 2019 Innovations in Health Science Education Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, February 21-22, 2019. 

    1. Sommerhalder C, Chacin AC, Williams TP, Delao SC, Snyder CL, Kahrig KM, Perez A. Utilizing In-Hospital Fabrication to Decrease Simulation Costs and Increase Fidelity. Oral presentation at Surgical Simulation Summit, March 2019, Chicago, IL. 

    1. Dineley, K., Hilton, C., Snyder, C., Szauter, K., Fingerhut, P. So you Want to be an Educator? Oral presentation for the UTMB Academy of Master Teachers Education Week. Galveston, Texas, May 16, 2019. 

    1. Alton, S. & Snyder, C. Workshop: “Debriefing learning activities” for the Office of Educational Development (OED) Oct. 2019 

    1. Williams TP, Snyder CL, Kahrig K, Delao SC, Tyler DS, Perez A. Using Surgical Simulation to Decrease Institutional Sharps Exposures. Poster presentation at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2019, San Franciscio, CA. 

    1. Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Williams TP, Radhaskrishnan RS, Tyler D.S, Perez A. General Surgery Resident Utilization of Electronic Resources: 15 Minutes a Day. Oral presentation at Southern Surgical Association Annual Meeting. December 2019. Hot Springs, VA. 

    1. Williams TP, Sommerhalder C, Chacin A, Snyder C, Delao SC, Kahrig K, Perez A. Development of a Low-Cost, High Fidelity Model for Skin Suturing. Oral presentation at Academic Surgical Congress, February 2020, Orlando, FL. Williams TP, Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Radhakrishnan RS, Tyler DS, Perez A. Learning to Read: Successful Programmatic Remediation Utilizing The SCORE Curriculum. Abstract accepted to 2020 Southern Surgical Association Annual Meeting. 

    1. Cummins CB, Williams TP, Hughes BD, Radhakrishnan R. Results of Personality Testing Surgical Residency Candidates. Oral Presentation at 2021 Academic Surgical Congress. 

    1. Williams TP, Snyder C, Delao SC, Kahrig K, Hancock, K, Perez A. Creating a Reflective Environment to Improve Resident Well-being. Oral presentation at Academic Surgical Congress, February 2020, Orlando, FL. 

    1. Hancock KJ, Klimberg VS, Williams TP, Tran S. Surgical Jeopardy: Play to Learn. Oral presentation at Academic Surgical Congress, February 2020, Orlando, FL. 

    1. Iglesias NJ, Williams TP, Sommerhalder CS, Snyder CL, Perez A. Value Analysis of Central Line Simulation-based Education. E-Poster accepted at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2020, Chicago, IL. 

    1. Williams TP, Snyder CL, Hancock KJ, Delao SC, Perez A. Team Box: A Novel Simulation Tool to Assess the Learning Curve of Team-Based Laparoscopic Task Training. Oral Presentation at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2020, Chicago, IL. 

    1. Cummins CB, Ahn M, Williams TP, Hancock KJ, Radhakrishnan RS, Education of General Surgery Residents Over Time: Examining 20 Years of Case Logs. Oral Presentation at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2020, Chicago, IL. 

    1. Williams TP, Cummins CB, Hancock KJ, Radhakrishnan RS. A Multimodal Resident Education Curriculum Improves American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination Performance. Oral Presentation at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2020, Chicago, IL. 

    1. Williams TP, Lakatta A, Klimberg VS, Snyder CL, Humphrey L, Tyler DS, Perez A. TEAMS (Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery): A Novel Approach for Practicing Surgeons to Adopt New Techniques. Oral Presentation at 2020 Americas Hernia Society Annual Meeting, September 2020, New York, NY. 

    1. McTaggart LS, Williams TP, Perez A, Lane J, Friedman LR, Mao RD, Walker JP, Klimberg VS. Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery (TEAMS) for Underrepresented Minority High School Students. Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons Texas Surgeons Summit. 

    1. Khoo K, Williams TP, Sommerhalder CS, Snyder CL, Chacin AC, Perez A. Synthetic Lipoma Model for Teaching Open Dissection. Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons Texas Surgeons Summit. 

    1. Iglesias NJ, Williams TP, Cummins CB, Kalaria SS, Perez A, Mao RD, Walker JP, Radhakrishnan RS. Reviewing Nearly A Decade of ACGME Plastic Surgery Fellowship Case Logs: Is Surgical Experience Increasing? Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons Texas Surgeons Summit. 

    1. Colvill KM, Williams TP, Cummins CB, Radhakrishnan RS. Predicting General Surgery Match Outcomes Using Standardized Ranking Metrics. Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons Texas Surgeons Summit. 

    1. Williams TP, Snyder CL, Klimberg VS, Person J, Lee JO, Perez A. Point of Care Ultrasound Curriculum for General Surgery Residents. Oral Presentation at 2021 UTMB Scholars in Education Research Symposium, April 2021, Galveston, TX. 

    1. Iglesias NJ, Williams TP, Lakatta AC, Perez A. Tele-Education Assisted Mentoring in Surgery (TEAMS) Using Portable Laparoscopic Box Trainers. Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 Latin Medical Student Association Southwest Annual Meeting. 

    1. Williams TP, Klimberg VS, Perez A. Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery: In Review. ACS-AEI Fellows Oral Presentation at American College of Surgeons Surgical Simulation Summit, March 2021, Virtual Meeting. 

    1. Williams TP, Perez A. Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery. Invited Presentation at From Space to the South Pole: the Partnership of Medicine and Technology, University of Texas Medical Technology Resource and Education Center, March 2021, Virtual Meeting. 

    1. Iglesias NJ, Williams TP, Cummins CB, Kalaria SS, Perez A, Mao RD, Walker JP, Radhakrishnan RS. Reviewing Nearly A Decade of ACGME Plastic Surgery Fellowship Case Logs: Is Surgical Experience Increasing? Mentored Oral Presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, Virtual Meeting. 

    1. Mao, RD, Williams, TP, Lakatta, AC, Klimberg, VS, Snyder, CL, Tyler, DS, Humphrey, LL, Perez, A. TEAMS (Tele-Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery) for Remote Learning of Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair. Texas Association of Surgical Simulation Labs; 2021 September 10; Virtual.   

    1. Mao, RD, Colvill, KM, Williams, TP, Cummins, CB, Radhakrishnan, RS. Predicting General Surgery Match Outcomes Using Standardized Ranking Metrics. In: Academic Surgical Congress; 2022 February 1- 3; Orlando, FL. 

    1. Mazzola Poli de Figureiredo, S, Tastaldi, L, Mao, RD, Lu, RL Is Concurrent Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy and Inguinal Hernia Repair Safe? In: Academic Surgical Congress; 2022 February 1-3; Orlando, FL.   

    1. DeFilippo, CG, Shah, NR, Mao, RD, Williams, TP, Radhakrishnan, R.S, Pancreatic Duplication Cysts in an Asymptomatic Infant: A Unique Case Report. In: South Texas Chapter ACS Annual Meeting; 2022 February 17-19; Houston, TX  

    1. Mao, RD, Mazzola Poli de Figureiredo, S, Tastaldi, L, Manno, GC, Lu, RL. Extended-View Total Extraperitoneal Technique (eTEP) for Recurrent Subxiphoid Hernia Repair: A Case Report. In: South Texas ACS Annual Meeting; 2022 February 17-19; Houston, TX.  

    1. Benavidez, M, Mao, RD, Williams, TP, Snyder, CS, Chacin, AC, Perez, A. Novel Lower Extremity Fasciotomy Model Using In-Hospital Fabrication. In: Annual American College of Surgeons Surgical Simulation Summit; 2022 March 3-5; Chicago, IL.  

    1. Mao, RD, Williams, TP, Snyder, CL, Person, J., Klimberg, V.S., Mador, B. Buchanan, B., Perez, A. A Comparison of Remote and In-Person Teaching of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) Exams for Surgery Residents. In: Association for Surgical Education Annual Meeting; 2022 May 3 – 5; San Antonio, TX.