Kwakye appointed assistant dean for clinical medical education

Gifty Kwakye, M.D., M.P.H., the Arthur W. Fleming, M.D. Research Professor and clinical associate professor of surgery in the Division of Colorectal Surgery, was appointed assistant dean for clinical medical education in the Medical School, effective September 1, 2023. In this role, she will provide leadership to ensure the effective implementation of the Clinical Trunk and Branches curriculum, clinical assessments, learning resources, and professional identity formation for the education of medical students.

Kwakye earned undergraduate degrees in both biology and psychology from Yale University, an M.D. from Yale Medical School, and a M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University. She completed her general surgery residency at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School followed by a colorectal surgery fellowship at University of Minnesota before joining the University of Michigan Medical School faculty in 2018.
 
She served as member of the Admissions Executive Committee, the Branches Competency Committee, and the LCME Clinical Assessment Taskforce. She has engaged with students as a Branch advisor, Global Health Disparities Pathway advisor, and Doctoring faculty. She also has held education leadership positions including as co-director of the Comprehensive Competency Assessment Committee, director for medical student programs for the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, and clerkship director for the Department of Surgery.
 
She has received multiple awards in recognition of her excellence in patient care and teaching, including the Kaiser Permanente Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching (the most prestigious teaching award in the Medical School), the Arnold G. Coran Faculty Teaching Award for the Department of Surgery, Galen's Society Silver Shovel Faculty Teaching Award, the Senior Award from the 2021 graduating medical school class, and she was elected UMMS Class Marshall in 2021 and 2022. She is also a member of the Gold Humanism and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies.
 
Kwakye’s clinical practice focuses on the treatment of colon and rectal oncology, inflammatory bowel disease, surgical management of pelvic floor disorders, anorectal disorders and utilizing minimally invasive approaches to colorectal disease. She also has a passion for global health, recently helping the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to develop the first colorectal surgery fellowship program in Sub-Sahara Africa outside of South Africa.