Michel Aboutanos MD, MPH, FACS, NOTW

Dr. Michel B. Aboutanos, MD, MPH, FACS, NOTW, is a professor and chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services, medical director of VCU’s Level I Trauma Center, and the Fletcher Emory Ammons Distinguished Professor of Surgery. He serves as the medical director of the   VCU Injury & Violence  Prevention program (IVPP)  and chairs the hospital’s Joint Emergency Preparedness committee. He additionally serves as the associate medical director of VCU’s  Center for Trauma & Critical Care Education (CTCCE) and VCU’s paramedic program.

As chief of the ACS Division he oversees 4 clinical services (Trauma, Emergency General Surgery, Surgical & Burn critical Care, elective community general surgery) as well as 3 non clinical program (Injury & Violence Prevention program -IVPP, CTCCE, International trauma Systems Development program) and leads a team of 15 Critical Care surgeons, 1 emergency physicians, 20 advanced practice providers, 3 research PHD’s, and 10 program coordinators.

Dr. Aboutanos serves as the State Chair of the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons - Committee on Trauma. He also served as the   Chair of the VA State Trauma System Committee and  Chairs The  Trauma Administrative & Governance Committee,  which oversees trauma system, triage & quality improvement in the Commonwealth. He was appointed to serve on the Governor’s executive committee of the State EMS Advisory Board. He served as President and now as a member of the executive committee of the Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS), which is the leading Trauma society in the Americas.

Dr. Aboutanos completed his general surgery training at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, and his trauma & critical care training at the University of Maryland’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Maryland, USA. He additionally completed a residency in Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, where he obtained his Master's in Public Health with emphasis on EMS system development, injury and violence prevention, and global health. He served for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) as a violence consultant to the regions of the Americas, and for the Centers for Disease Control for the development of international injury coding and classification systems.

He has numerous professional membership including the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), the  Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS), the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST), and the Western Trauma Association (WEST). He is the author of numerous publications and chapters, and has presented at various national and international meetings on  Trauma systems and injury control paradigms.

Clinically, his main interest is trauma care, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care. His elective practice is in general surgery with a specific interest and expertise in complex soft tissue diseases, abdominal wall reconstruction, hernia repairs, and gallbladder surgery.