Course Faculty
Robert Acton, MD, FACS
Dr. Robert Acton is a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He is trained as a pediatric surgeon with a strong interest in surgical education and simulation to acquire technical skills for medical students and residents. He is an active member of the American College of Surgeons, the Association for Surgical Education, and the American Pediatric Surgical Association. He has served in many leadership roles at the University of Minnesota, including clerkship director, associate program director in surgery, and chief of staff of the University of Minnesota Medical Center. He is currently the Surgeon-in-Chief of the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Dr. Acton has been involved in developing and refining the ACS/ASE Medical Student Simulation-based Surgical Skills Curriculum since its inception.
Andre Campbell, MD, FACS, FACP, FCCM, MAMSE
Dr. Campbell is a professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. In addition, he is also an attending trauma surgeon at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Dr. Campbell is fully trained in internal medicine, general surgery, and surgical critical care. His research and clinical interest have been the ICU care of trauma patients, acute lung injury after trauma, abdominal compartment syndrome, and surgical education. He was selected to serve on the Verification Review Committee of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and has served on the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons Executive Committee. Dr. Campbell is the current president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.
Krystle Campbell, DHA, MSMS, CHSE, FACHDM
Dr. Campbell is the Director of Simulation Center Operations at the UT Southwestern Simulation Center, Dallas, Texas. She designs and implements cutting-edge simulation learning experiences. As a tutor in the University of Edinburg's Master of Patient Safety program, Dr. Campbell provides tutelage to learners internationally on the effective adoption of simulation to improve patient care. She is Chair of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare External Relations Committee and is affiliated with esteemed bodies such as the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She has a Certificate in Healthcare Education and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Data and Management. Dr. Campbell has distinguished herself as one of fewer than 50 globally with a master's degree in medical and healthcare simulation. Her laurels include graduating with first honors from the Medical University of South Carolina's Doctor of Health Program.
Angela A. Guzzetta, MD, FACS
Dr. Guzzetta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern. She practices Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the Dallas VA. In 2021 she became the Director for Surgical Simulation for the UT Southwestern Surgical Simulation. Since then, she has increased the annual number of surgical simulation from 13 to 57 and increased robotic simulation training by 200%. Over the past year, she has expanded her interest in mentoring faculty who are new to surgical simulation.
Patricio Polanco, M.D.
Dr. Polanco is an Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas, Texas. He is an expert in minimally invasive/robotic pancreas and liver surgery and serves as the Director of the Robotic Surgery Training Program at UT Southwestern and Co-Director of Pancreatic Cancer Program and Co-Director Pancreatic Cancer Prevention Clinic. at the Simmons NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Polanco’s research endeavors include robotic surgery training, simulation curriculum development, health services research in disparities in access to care for hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) malignancies. He is also the site principal investigator for several national clinical trials for pancreatic cancer. His research has resulted in over 120 peer review publications published in several high impact journals. Dr. Polanco serves in several committees and leadership positions of academic associations including the Americas HepatoPancreato-Biliary Association, Society of Surgical Oncology, American College of Surgeons, among others. He also serves in the Pancreatic Cancer expert panel for the National Comprehensive Center Network (NCCN) guidelines. Dr. Polanco's commitment to education and training extends globally, as he has trained and proctored several international surgeons in establishing robotic surgery HPB programs. Furthermore, his extensive experience in medical mission trips to Latin-America highlights his dedication to providing healthcare access to underserved populations.
Daniel J. Scott, MD, FACS
Dr. Scott is Assistant Dean of Simulation and Student Integration and holds the Frank H. Kidd Jr., M.D., Distinguished Professorship in Surgery. He practices as a general surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery. He has served as the director of a multi-department simulation program, Vice Chair of Education, and Residency Program Director in the Department of Surgery, and is currently Program Director of the Minimally Invasive/Bariatric Surgery Fellowship. In 2016, Dr. Scott became Director of the UT Southwestern Simulation Center, which hosts events for all departments and has over 25,000 annual learner encounters. Dr. Scott is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in medical education and has authored 225 publications, including landmark studies in surgical simulation. He has also served in numerous national leadership roles, including President of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), the Fellowship Council, and the Association for Surgical Education (ASE).
Ranjan Sudan, MD, MBBS, FACS | Course Chair
Dr. Sudan is a professor of surgery and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. He is past vice-chair and past director of the Surgical Education and Activities Lab (SEAL) at Duke University for thirteen years. His interests include curriculum development and implementation. Clinical areas of expertise include robotic surgery, minimally invasive foregut, bariatric surgery, and curriculum development and implementation. He is also the Course Director and Project Lead of the Integrated National Curriculum in Surgical Education (INCISE), an American College of Surgeons product. Dr. Sudan is the past President of the Association for Surgical Education.
Staff Consultants
Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, FSACME, MAMSE
Director, ACS Division of Education
Patrice Gabler Blair, DrPH, MPH
Associate Director, ACS Division of Education
