The Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery is pleased to announce the appointment of John Migaly, MD, FACS, FASCRS, as the new Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Surgery.
Dr. Migaly is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Division of Surgical Oncology and has served as the Program Director of the General Surgery Residency for the past decade.
Associated Professor in Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology
“There is not a person I have met with more sincere dedication to the educational mission than John Migaly,” says Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery. “Dr. Migaly has tirelessly dedicated himself for his entire professional career to elevating the knowledge base of students and residents through a mastery of both time-honored approaches and bold implementation of creative innovations. He is perfectly poised to take a department that is already renowned for creating superb surgeons and scientists to new heights, and in doing so, provide national leadership for academic surgery.”
Dr. Migaly grew up in New York City and attended both college and medical school at New York University. He trained in general surgery at the Temple University Health Sciences Center in Philadelphia, PA. After residency, Dr. Migaly completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic before returning to Temple University Hospital as faculty in the Department of Surgery and Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency for 2 years. He was then recruited to Duke and has served as either the Associate Program Director or the Program Director for the past 11 years.
During his time as Program Director, Dr. Migaly was instrumental in revamping the curriculum, resulting in the rise of the 5-year, first time, combined board pass rate to 96%. He has promoted a "residents first" ethos and operationalized many resident-initiated programs such as the Residents as Educators course, the Surgical Education Research Group (SERG), and the STAR course (Surgical Technique and Review) for Duke medical students entering surgical residencies. Furthermore, he rebuilt the residency application and review structure into a holistic process that essentially democratized the resident selection mechanism. The residency in general surgery at Duke has perpetually been ranked in the top 10 programs nationwide for the past decade.
In 2015, Dr. Migaly was awarded the David C. Sabiston, Jr. Teaching Award for Excellence in Resident Education. He has a strong interest in colorectal oncology and has a national presence in the field. He presently serves as a consultant for the Qualifying Exam for the ABS. Dr. Migaly also presently serves on the Program Committees for both the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.
“I look forward to working across all of the subspecialties in the Department of Surgery to create synergy and innovation at the medical student, graduate, and post graduate medical education levels,” says Dr. Migaly.
In his new position, Dr. Migaly will continue the tradition of excellence previously established by his predecessor, Ranjan Sudan, MD, Professor of Surgery, who has served as the Vice Chair of Education for the past decade. “Dr. Sudan has cultivated a remarkable educational portfolio of depth, breadth, and national influence, and I am personally so grateful for his service and his gracious support during this transition,” says Dr. Kirk.
We look forward to Dr. Migaly’s leadership in Duke Surgery starting in September 2021, and express sincere gratitude to Dr. Sudan for his service to the department's educational mission over the past ten years.