Dr. Brigitte Smith is an associate professor of vascular surgery at the University of Utah, where she serves as program director for the Vascular Surgery Fellowship and vice chair of Education for the Department of Surgery. She is responsible for oversight and support of the education mission for eight divisions, including undergraduate and graduate medical education (GME) programs, as well as education-related research and career development for faculty members. She holds national leadership positions in the Association for Surgical Education, Association for Program Directors in Vascular Surgery, and American College of Surgeons. She is involved in the Society for Vascular Surgery as an active committee member. She was also recently elected to the Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery, in large part due to her expertise and contributions to the development of entrustable professional activities for vascular surgery. As a subspecialty surgeon, she brings clinical and educational diversity to leadership teams and is acutely aware of the importance of elevating minority voices as new educational programs and policies are established.

Dr. Smith’s academic career is dedicated to surgical education. As a result of her experience as the first resident in an integrated vascular surgery residency program, Dr. Smith became interested in how new models of GME are developed and implemented, as well as how the outcomes of medical education are evaluated. Her research focuses on examining the association between educational variables, including programs, policies, and individual measures of competence, and patient care outcomes in unsupervised practice. She is currently the Principal Investigator on a National Board of Medical Examiners Stemmler Grant for a study investigating the association between ACGME Milestones assessment ratings during GME with patient care outcomes in practice. She has also investigated major shifts in GME training paradigms, including the factors that serve as the impetus for change and the outcomes of new models.