Terrence Allen “TA” Smith, MD, MMHC, a former Vanderbilt faculty member in gastroenterology and a former U.S. Army flight surgeon who served in Iraq, died on April 7 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident. He was 68.
“TA was a role model for all of us,” said Richard Peek, MD, the Mina Cobb Wallace Professor of Immunology, professor of Medicine and director of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.
He was “an amazing and trusted colleague, a talented endoscopist and a visionary in building our small bowel program,” Peek said. “He loved teaching the fellows and caring for our patients.”
“His accomplishments as a physician were eclipsed by his greatness as a person,” added Michael Vaezi, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Swallowing and Esophageal Disorders at VUMC.
“He will forever be remembered as a man of action who always sought to do what was right,” Vaezi said. “He selflessly and bravely served our country and deeply loved his family and his friends. He will be sorely missed.”
Dr. Smith was born on June 18, 1956, in Sandusky, Ohio, and earned his MD from Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, in 1997.
He joined the Vanderbilt faculty as assistant professor of Medicine in 2003 after completing a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at VUMC. In 2020 he earned a Masterof Management in Health Care from the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management.
During his 20-year career at VUMC, he developed the Vanderbilt Small Bowel Center and was a leader in endoscopic innovation. A recipient of a Deans Award for Academic Excellence (2019-2020), he retired from the Vanderbilt faculty in June 2023.
Dr. Smith also was a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve for more than 30 years and a former brigade surgeon and former chief of Aviation Medicine who completed five tours of combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During his last tour in Iraq in 2018, he asked his VUMC colleagues if they would donate used textbooks for a medical library at a local clinic. Expecting 10 books, he received more than 150.
“It was so uplifting,” said Nikki Smith, MSN, RN, who was at the time assistant nurse manager of the GI Endoscopy Lab. He was “always figuring out ways to give — and this time in another part of the world. Our whole staff admires and appreciates him so much.”
Dr. Smith is survived by his wife, Michele, and son, Matt.
The VUMC community is invited to participate in honoring Dr. Smith’s life at the Holy Family Catholic Church, 9100 Crockett Road in Brentwood, during a showing of the Eucharist, 5-8 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and prior to Mass and a luncheon at 10 a.m. Friday, April 25.
