Kenric Murayama, chair and residency program director of the Department of Surgery at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), was inducted as an associate member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. Murayama, the only surgeon educator from Hawaiʻi in the academy, is among a group of 83 esteemed surgical educators who were inducted at a ceremony held on October 4, in Chicago.
Murayama is a 1976 graduate of ʻIolani School and returned home to Hawaiʻi in 2015 to lead the surgery department at JABSOM, his alma mater. His clinical interest is minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery with a focus on laparoscopic treatment for benign esophageal disorders, abdominal wall hernias, and morbid obesity and its metabolic consequences.
Murayama has a longstanding commitment to surgical education and leadership development in surgery. He has served as residency director at Abington Memorial Hospital and developed the Quality, Outcomes and Performance Improvement Committee to engage residents and emphasize the importance of patient safety and quality improvement in their journey of lifelong learning. As medical director of the operating rooms, he led the initiative to create a corporate model for the department of surgery across two institutions. In that capacity he was actively involved in operational and strategic planning and implementation with specific goals of improving efficiencies, cost containment and program development. In addition, he is the founding editor of the textbook, “An Evidence Based Approach to Minimally Invasive Surgery.”
“We are proud of this accomplishment by Dr. Murayama,” said Jerris Hedges, JABSOM dean. “The Academy of Master Surgeon Educators was developed by the ACS Division of Education to recognize surgeon educators who have devoted their careers to surgical education. Dr. Murayama clearly exemplifies the exceptional surgeon educator the American College of Surgeons seeks to honor through this academy.”
—By Deborah Manog Dimaya
