Kimberly Schenarts, Ph.D., professor, surgery, received the 2015 ASE Distinguished Educator Award from the Association for Surgical Education. The award is the highest surgical teaching award given by the ASE and is given annually to an individual who has attained national prominence and demonstrated excellence as a master teacher and educator.
With ASE, Dr. Schenarts served as the organization's president in 2004-2005 and also served on its foundation board of directors. She worked on the program, curriculum and awards committees and was a member of its grants review board.
Since 2008, Dr. Schenarts has served as director of the Surgical Education Research Fellowship (SERF) program, a one year, home-site fellowship designed to equip investigators with the skills and knowledge needed to plan, implement and report research studies in the field of surgical education. Participants include surgical faculty, residents, and fellows. In that role, she has guided and mentored 107 faculty and residents – half the number of fellows who have participated in SERF since its inception in 1995.
Dr. Schenarts received the ASE award on April 24 as part of Surgical Education Week activities at the ASE Annual Banquet in Seattle.
"This a real feather in the cap for Dr. Schenarts to receive this award," said David W. Mercer, M.D., professor and chair of the UNMC Department of Surgery. "Kim has been a leader in surgical education wherever she has gone."
Dr. Schenarts earned her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from Michigan State University, where she worked closely with her father, Richard E. Dean, M.D., former chairman of surgery at MSU. Dr. Dean was a founding member of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) and also received the ASE Distinguished Educator Award during his career.
Dr. Schenarts' career path included serving as a communication intern and freelance writer for the Michigan State Medical Society and as a medical writer for the Grand Rapids Area Medical Center. She then served as the surgical education coordinator at Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital in Detroit, before becoming director of undergraduate surgical education, assistant director of graduate medical education, and associate professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
In 2002, she moved to the University of Texas Medical School at Houston as professor of surgery and director of surgical education. After a three-year stint in Texas, Dr. Schenarts moved to the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., where she served as an affiliate professor of surgery and consultant to the Graduate Medical Education office.
In 2012, she was recruited to UNMC along with her husband, P.J. Schenarts, M.D., who is vice chair of academic affairs and chief of acute care surgery.
Active in numerous organizations, Dr. Schenarts served on the Task Force on Clinical Skills Education for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Alliance on Clinical Education. She served two terms with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) working on its Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for resident physicians. In addition, she has worked on national surgery education conferences exploring ways to reduce the risk of surgical errors.
ASE was formed in 1980. Its 850 members represent more than 190 medical schools and institutions throughout the United States and Canada. The mission of the ASE is to promote, recognize, and reward excellence, innovation and scholarship in surgical education.