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dent@uthscsa.edu

Departments & Divisions

Daniel L Dent, M.D.

Vice Chair for Education

Distinguished Teaching Professor

Director of Competency Assessment

Daniel L. Dent, M.D. is the Residency Program Director and a Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery at UT Health San Antonio. 

Dr. Dent’s clinical practice is in Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery. He is a native of Orlando, Florida who completed a bachelor's degree in Psychology at Duke University. Dr. Dent obtained his medical degree from the University of South Florida. As a student, he worked summers and holidays for the Walt Disney Company for 11 years. He subsequently completed his residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis; his residency included an additional year of research in Trauma and Nutrition Support.

Dr. Dent joined the faculty at UT Health San Antonio in 1996 and has received numerous teaching excellence awards as voted by medical students and residents. He has mentored and advocated for medical students and residents such that they have received awards or national recognition from the American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Surgical Council on Resident Education, the Residency Review Committee for Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Association of Program Directors in Surgery, the Association for Surgical Education, the Shock Society, and Archives of Surgery. As a result of his commitment to surgical and medical education, he was named a Distinguished Teaching Professor by the University of Texas System in 2010 and received the UT Health San Antonio Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in 2016. He holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Medical Education where he is the Director of Competency Assessment.

Dr. Dent has published more than 70 scientific articles. His clinical and translational research focus is in autotransfusion, where he has mentored medical students as they coordinated a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, researchers, and hematologists to investigate and better define the makeup of hemothorax and its suitability for autotransfusion. He also leads a research team in surgical education that has investigated patient acceptance of surgical residents in their care, factors affecting boards pass rates, and the fate of preliminary surgical residents among other topics. 

Dr. Dent is a Councilor of the American Board of Surgery where he serves as the Chair of the Certifying Examination Committee. He is the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) representative to the Organization of Program Director Associations and a Past President of the APDS. He has previously served on the Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Board of Governors as Lead of the Education Pillar, Secretary, and Vice Chair.  He is a reviewer for the Journal of Surgical Education, the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Surgery, the American Journal of Surgery, Annals of Surgery, Burns, Critical Care Medicine, and the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. 

 

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 1996 - Residency - General Surgery - University of Tennessee
    • 1993 - Postdoctoral Fellowship - Trauma & Nutrition Support - University of Tennessee
    • 1992 - Residency - General Surgery - University of Tennessee
    • 1991 - Internship - General Surgery - University of Tennessee
    • 1990 - MD - Medicine - University of South Florida
    • 1984 - BS - Psychology - Duke University

    Highlights

    Distinguished Teaching Professor: Bestowed by the UT System to faculty on the UTHSCSA campus (2010); Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors: Named Lead of Education Pillar (2015); President of Association of Program Directors in Surgery (2016) ; Presidential Teaching Excellence Award, UTHSCSA (2016)

    Appointments

    • 1996- Present - Medical Staff - University Hospital, University Health System, San Antonio, TX
    • 1996-2002 - Assistant Professor of Surgery - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
    • 2002-2010 - Associate Professor of Surgery - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
    • 2006- Present - Program Director for General Surgery Residency - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
    • 2010- Present - Professor of Surgery - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX

  • Instruction & Training

    • 1/2018 - Present, Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision, UT Health San Antonio
    • 7/2015 - Present, Post-Doctoral Student Supervision, UT Health San Antonio
    • 2/2014 - Present, Hemodynamic Monitoring
    • 2/2014 - Present, Massive Blood Transfusion
    • 2/2014 - Present, Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)
    • 5/2012 - Present, Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision, UT Health Science Center San Antonio
    • 5/2012 - Present, Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) Course
    • 5/2011 - Present, Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • 5/2009 - Present, Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision, UTHSCSA
    • 6/1997 - Present, Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC)
    • 9/1996 - Present, Rotation Student Supervision, UTHSCSA
    • 9/1996 - Present, Er Trauma Fracture, The University of Texas Health Science Center

  • Research & Grants

    Grants

    Private

    Funding Agency Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas Title The Dr. Russell L. Woodard General Surgery Residency Scholars Program Status Active Period 7/2010 - Present Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail This program funds general surgery clinical rotations at area hospitals for second, third and fourth year residents.

  • Publications

      Abstract

      James E. Coverdill, PhD, Adnan Alseidi, MD, David C. Borgstrom, MD, Daniel Dent, MD, Russell Dumire, MD, Jonathan Fryer, MD, Thomas H Hartranft, MD, Steven B Holsten, MD, M. Timothy Nelson, MD, Mohsen M Shabahang, MD, Stanley R. Sherman, MD, Paula M Termuhlen, MD, Christopher Wohltmann, MD, Randy J. Woods, MD and John D. Mellinger, MD. Faculty Assessment of Non-Physician Providers in General Surgery Resident Education; 2017 Jan. Daniel L Dent MD, Mohammed J Al Fayyadh MD, Jeremy A Rawlings BS, Ross E Willis PhD, Ronald M Stewart MD. Malpractice Risk Correlates Negatively with States' Surgery Residency Graduates' Performance on American Board of Surgery Examinations; 2017 Jan. Mohammed J Al Fayyadh MD, Stephanie F Heller MD, Taufiek K Rajab MD, Aimee K Gardner PhD, Jordan P Bloom MD, Jeremy A Rawlings BS, Douglas S Smink MD, David R Farley MD, Ross E Willis PhD, Daniel L Dent MD. Predicting Success of Preliminary Surgical Residents: A Multi-Institutional Study; 2016 Dec.

      Book Chapter

      Dent DL. Small Bowel and Colon Injuries. In: Stephen M. Cohn, MD, Matthew O. Dolich, MD, Kenji Inaba, MD (eds). Acute Care Surgery and Trauma: Evidence-Based Practice, Second Edition. Abingdon: CRC Press; 2015.

      Editorial

      Damewood R, Morris JB, Mellinger J, Friedell ML, Borman KR, Dent DL, Schenarts PJ, Jarman BT. Association of Program Directors in Surgery Position Response to ACGME for Position on Accreditation Requirements J Surg Educ 2016 May;73(3):363-369.

      Journal Article

      Jason W. Kempenich, MD, Ross E. Willis, PhD, Mohammed Al Fayyadh, MBChB, Haisar Dao Campi, MD,
      Tatiana Cardenas, MD, William A. Hopper, BS, Cynthia A. Giovannetti, BS, Charles C. Reed, PhD, and Daniel L. Dent, MD
      . Video-Based Patient Education Improves Patient Attitudes toward Resident Participation in Outpatient Surgical Care J Surgical Education 2018 Dec;75(6):61-67. Johnson, Michael, C.; Alarhayem, Abdul; Convertino, Victor; Carter, Robert, III; Chung, Kevin; Stewart, Ronald; Myers, John; Dent, Daniel; Liao, Lilian; Cestero, Ramon; Nicholson, Susannah; Muir, Mark; Schwacha, Martin; Wampler, David; DeRosa, Mark; Eastridge, Brian. Compensatory Reserve Index: Performance of a Novel Monitoring Technology to Identify the Bleeding Trauma Patient Shock 2018 Mar;49(3):295-300. James E. Coverdill, Jeff Scott Shelton, Adnan Alseidi, David C. Borgstrom, Daniel L. Dent, Russell Dumire, Jonathan Fryer, Thomas H. Hartranft, Steven B. Holsten, M. Timothy Nelson, Moshen M. Shabahang, Stanley R. Sherman, Paula M. Termuhlen, Randy J. Woods, and John D. Mellinger. The promise and problems of non-physician practitioners in general surgery education: Results of a multi-centered, mixed methods study of faculty The American Journal of Surgery 2018 Feb;:222-226. James E. Coverdill*, Adnan Alseidi, David C. Borgstrom, Daniel L. Dent,
      Russell Dumire, Jonathan Fryer, Thomas H. Hartranft, Steven B. Holsten,
      M. Timothy Nelson, Mohsen M. Shabahang, Stanley R. Sherman, Paula M. Termuhlen,
      Randy J. Woods, John D. Mellinger. Assessing the 16 hour intern shift limit: Results of a multi-center, mixed-methods study of residents and faculty in general surgery The American Journal of Surgery 2018 Jan;:326-330. Al Fayyadh MJ, Hassan RA, Tran ZK, Kempenich JW, Bunegin L, Dent DL, Willis RE. Immediate Auditory Feedback is Superior to Other Types of Feedback for Basic Surgical Skills Acquisition J Surg Educ 2017 Dec;74(6):e55-e61. Dent DL. A prospective human study of the hematologic, coagulative, and inflammatory characteristics of hemothorax J Trauma and Acute Care Surg 2017 Nov;83(5):908-910. Dent,DL. Association of General Surgery Resident Remediation and Program Director Attitudes with Resident Attrition JAMA 2017 Aug;:1134-1140. Shady A. Rehim, MD MSc, Stephanie DeMoor, BS, Richard Olmsted, BA, MS, Daniel L. Dent, MD, Jessica Parker-Raley,PhD. Tools for Assessment of Communication Skills of Hospital Action Teams: A Systematic Review Journal of Surgical Education 2017 Mar;74:341-351. Aaron M. Lewis, D.O.,* Salvador Sordo, M.D.,* Leonard J. Weireter, M.D.,? Michelle A. Price, PH.D.,*
      Leopoldo Cancio, M.D.,? Rachelle B. Jonas, R.N., B.S.N.,* Daniel L. Dent, M.D.,* Mark T. Muir, M.D.,*
      Jayson D. Aydelotte, M.D.?. Mass Casualty Incident Management Preparedness: A Survey of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma American Journal of Surgeons 2016 Dec;. Kempenich JW, Willis RE, Blue RJ, Al Fayyadh MJ, Cromer RM, Schenarts PJ, Van Sickle KR, Dent DL. The Effect of Patient Education on the Perceptions of Resident Participation in Surgical Care J Surg Educ 2016 Nov;:e111-e119. Coverdill JE, Alseidi A, Borgstrom DC, Dent DL, Dumire RD, Fryer J, Hartranft TH, Holsten SB, Nelson MT, Shabahang M, Sherman S, Termuhlen PM, Woods RJ, Mellinger JD. Professionalism in the Twilight Zone: A Multicenter, Mixed-Methods Study of Shift Transition Dynamics in Surgical Residencies Acad Med 2016 Nov;91(11):S31-S36. Salhanick MA, Sams VG, Pidcoke HF, Fedyk CG, Scherer MR, Dubick MA, Dent DL, Cap AP, Schwacha MG. Shed pleural blood from traumatic hemothorax contains elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines Shock 2016 Aug;:144-148. Dietch ZC, Duane TM, Cook CH, O`Neill PJ, Askari R, Napolitano LM, Namias N, Watson CM, Dent DL, Edwards BL, Shah PM, Guidry CA, Davies SW, Willis RN, Sawyer RG. Obesity Is Not Associated with Antimicrobial Treatment Failure for Intra-Abdominal Infection Surg Infect (Larchmt) 2016 Aug;17(4):412-421. Raley J, Meenakshi R, Dent D, Willis R, Lawson K, Duzinski S. The role of communication during trauma activations: investigating the need for team and leader communication training J Surg Educ 2016 Jul;:173-179. Sordo S, Holloway TL, Woodard RL, Conway BE, Liao LF, Eastridge BJ, Myers JG, Stewart RM, Dent DL. Small Bowel Perforations by Metallic Grill Brush Bristles: Clinical Presentations and Opportunity for Prevention Am Surg 2016 May;82(5):412-415. Willis RE, Dent DL, Love JD, Kempenich JW, Uecker J, Brown KM, Thomas JS, Gomez PP, Adams AJ, Admire JR, Sprunt JM, Kahrig KM, Wiggins-Dohlvik K. Predicting and enhancing American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination performance: Does writing questions really help? Am J Surg 2016 Feb;211(2):361-368. Alarhayem AQ, Myers JG, Dent D, Lamus D, Lopera J, Liao L, Cestero R, Stewart R, Eastridge BJ. "Blush at first sight". significance of computed tomographic and angiographic discrepancy in patients with blunt abdominal trauma Am J Surg 2015 Dec;:1104-1110. Robert G. Sawyer, M.D., Jeffrey A. Claridge, M.D., Avery B. Nathens, M.D., Ori D. Rotstein, M.D., Therese M. Duane, M.D., Heather L. Evans, M.D., Charles H. Cook, M.D., Patrick J. O?Neill, M.D., Ph.D., John E. Mazuski, M.D., Ph.D., Reza Askari, M.D., Mark A. Wilson, M.D., Lena M. Napolitano, M.D., Nicholas Namias, M.D., Preston R. Miller, M.D., E. Patchen Dellinger, M.D., Christopher M. Watson, M.D., Raul Coimbra, M.D., Daniel L. Dent, M.D., Stephen F. Lowry, M.D., Christine S. Cocanour, M.D., Michaela A. West, M.D., Ph.D., Kaysie L. Banton, M.D., William G. Cheadle, M.D., Pamela A. Lipsett, M.D., Christopher A. Guidry, M.D., and Kimberley Popovsky, B.S.N. Trial of Short-Course Antimicrobial Therapy for Intraabdominal Infection N Engl J Med 2015 May;2015(372):1996-2005. Harrison HB; Smith WZ; Salhanick MA; Higgins RA; Ortiz A; Olson JD; Schwacha MG; Harrison CR; Aydelotte JD; Stewart RM; Dent DL. An experimental model of hemothorax autotransfusion: impact on coagulation Am J Surg 2014 Dec;208(6):1078-1082. Hassan SF, Cohn SM, Admire J, Nunez-Cantu O, Arar Y, Myers JG, Dent DL, Eastridge BJ, Cestero RF, Gunst M, Markowski H, Keric N, Liao L, Mueller DL. Natural History and Clinical Implications of Nondepressed Skull Fracture in Young Children J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2014 Jul;77(1):166-169. Minter RM, Dunnington GL, Sudan R, Terhune KP, Dent DL, Lentz AK. Can This Resident be Saved? Identification and Early Intervention for Struggling Residents J Am Coll Surg 2014 Jul;219(5):1088-1095. Smith WZ, Harrision HB, Salhanick, Higgins RA, Ortiz A, Olson JD, Schwacha MG, Harrison CR, Aydelotte JD, Stewart RM, Dent DL. A small amount can make a difference: a prospective human study of the paradoxical coagulation characteristics of hemothorax Am J Surg 2013 Dec;206(6):904-909. Grignol VP, Granna K, Sabra J, Cromer RM, Jarman B, Dent D, Sticca RP, Nelson TM, Kukora JS, Daley BJ, Treat RW, Termuhlen PM. Multi-Institutional Study of Self-Reported Attitudes and Behaviors of General Surgery Residents about Ethical Academic Practices in Test-Taking J Surg Educ 2013 Nov;70(6):777-781. Salhanick M, Higgins RA, Olson JD, Michalek JE, Harrison CR, Corneille MG, Stewart RM, Harrison C,Dent DL,. Autotransfusion of Hemothorax Blood In Trauma Patients: Is It the Same as Fresh Whole Blood? Am J Surg 2011 Dec;202(6):817-822. Stewart RM, Geoghegan K, Myers JG, Sirinek KR, Corneille MG, Mueller D, Dent DL, Wolf SE, Pruitt BA. Malpractice Risk and Cost are Significantly Reduced After Tort Reform J Am Coll Surg 2011 Apr;212(4):463-467. Dent DL. Early Enteral Nutrition in Penetrating Adbominal Trauma J Crit Care Nutrit 1996 Jan;:39-41.

      Other

      Dent DL. Question for Daniel L. Dent, MD From Hira Ahmad, MD, PGY-3 Surgery Resident, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston General Surgery News 2015 Oct;.

      Review Article

      Cestero RF, Dent DL. Endpoints of Resuscitation Surg Clin of North America 2015 Apr;95(2):319-336.

  • Clinical

    Board Certifications

    • 2001 - American Board of Surgery