Katherine Dobie, M.D., has been appointed chief of the Division of Ambulatory Anesthesiology, succeeding Shannon Hersey, M.D., who accepted a position as medical director of Anesthesia Operations at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
The Division of Ambulatory Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt was formed in 2008 to provide services for a growing number of Vanderbilt University Medical Center satellite locations, including the Nashville Surgery Center (NSC), Vanderbilt Outpatient Surgery Center (VOS), Cool Springs Surgery Center (CSSC), and Vanderbilt Bone & Joint Surgery Center in Franklin, Tenn.
Outpatient surgical services offered at Vanderbilt’s surgery centers include orthopaedic, gynecological, ophthalmologic, pediatric, plastic, spine, gastroenterology, urologic, and ear, nose and throat procedures. The Division of Ambulatory Anesthesiology provides services for more than 60 community surgeons and is on track to care for approximately 12,000 patients at Vanderbilt’s four outpatient centers in 2013.
Dobie received her medical degree from the James Quillen College of Medicine of East Tennessee State University in 2003. She completed two years of residency in general surgery at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then joined Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2006 to complete her residency in Anesthesiology. In 2009, Dobie became a member of the Anesthesiology faculty as assistant professor of Clinical Anesthesiology. She then worked in private practice before returning to Vanderbilt in 2011 to serve as medical director of Vanderbilt Bone & Joint Surgery Center when the facility became a Vanderbilt satellite location.
“Dr. Dobie has proven to be a leader at Vanderbilt in the field of ambulatory anesthesia,” said Warren Sandberg, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. “When we took over anesthesia services at Vanderbilt Bone & Joint Surgery Center, we knew we would face unique challenges by coming into such a high-volume, well-established practice. In her role there, Dr. Dobie was able to forge partnerships with surgeons, while quickly improving the efficiency and quality of patient care. At the same time, she initiated a comparative effectiveness and clinical research program. She was a logical choice for division chief.”
Dobie also established the Regional Anesthesia program at Vanderbilt Bone and Joint Surgery Center. That program delivers more than 1,200 regional anesthetics yearly, including a successful At-Home Peripheral Nerve Catheter program. Under Dobie’s leadership, the Vanderbilt Bone and Joint Surgery Center has become one of the leaders among Vanderbilt providers in patient satisfaction measures.
