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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Pamela A. Lipsett, M.D.

Picture of Pamela A. Lipsett

Pamela A. Lipsett, M.D.

“For me, restoring the patients to well being while they are in the surgical intensive care unit is one of the greatest rewards imaginable.”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Benjamin L. Cardin

“OUTSTANDING SURGICAL "INTENSIVIST" AND TEACHER”

BIOGRAPHY

As a child Pamela Lipsett underwent surgery for a club foot and determined at that point to become a surgeon herself. "I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon; like the doctors who helped me get better. I started operating on my dolls-I remember, Chatty Cathy-I had her apart in five minutes," she laughingly recalls.

After a year of graduate education in biochemistry, Lipsett entered medical school and went on to be an outstanding surgeon, becoming the first female Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where her work and teaching are widely praised. Described by fellow doctors as a superb clinical surgeon, she has devoted herself in recent years to studying, preventing and treating infections in intensive care units.

"I always loved surgery for its combination of medical, technical and manual skills, and for being able to help a patient immediately," she says. "But I had a wonderful teacher in medical school, Richard Glew, who inspired me to study surgical infections. He was like a detective, always tracking symptoms for clues and figuring how to fight infections."

Nominated as a Local Legend by Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD-3), Lipsett co-directs the surgical intensive care units of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her work in the intensive care units caring for critically ill and injured patients is unequaled, according to colleagues.

She began her medical career with an internship and residency in general surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and then served on the general surgical staff. Along with her work in critical care, she is passionate about teaching. Recipient of many teaching awards, she is considered one of the outstanding teachers of medical students and residents in The Johns Hopkins Hospital. "It's a great privilege to serve as a role model for the next generation coming out of medical school," she says proudly.

She is a Faculty Mentor and Program Advisor for the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program at The Johns Hopkins, and also is the Fellowship Director for Surgical Critical Care and Surgical Trainees in Critical Care.

She has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Clinical Teaching Award from The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. In 2003, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society made her an honorary member.

She is widely published and the author of more than 100 articles and chapters in the medical literature.

John Cameron, M.D. and Chief of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, said, "I have had the privilege and honor of watching her progress locally, regionally, and nationally over the past twenty years. She is one of the outstanding surgeons, surgical investigators, and surgical educators in the country. Her accomplishments are immense."

"Of all my accomplishments," Lipsett herself says, "I'm proudest knowing that I took care of my patients and helped them during a critical time of their lives."

MILESTONES

1989-1990

Appointed Assistant Chief of Service, Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

1990-Present

Appointed Active Staff, Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

1990-2003

Appointed Assistant Professor (1990-1995), Associate Professor (1995-2003) The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

1992-Present

Appointed Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

1994-Present

Appointed Co-Director, Surgical Intensive Care Units, and Fellowship Director for Surgical Critical Care, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

2003-Present

Appointed Professor of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

2005-Present

Appointed General Surgery Program Director,The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

BORN

1957

MEDICAL SCHOOL

University of Massachusetts, School of Medicine, Worcester, MA

SPECIALTY

Surgery


Sub Specialty

Critical Care

LOCATION

Maryland