Greg Schaefer, DO

Gregory Schaefer, DO, FACS, FCCM

West Virginia University

Position

Professor, Medical Director, Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Surgery

Phone

304-293-0583

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Greg Schaefer, D.O.

Board Certification: General Surgery, Surgical Critical Care

Medical School: LECOM

Residency: General Surgery

Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor

Special Clinical/Research Interests: Pre-hospital/ Disaster medicine

Is there a particular population of students (e.g., ethnicity, spiritual, sexual orientation) that you would particularly like to advise?

What does a typical day in the life of a trauma surgeon include?

Emergent general surgery, surgery and elective general surgery. Rounding on patients, seeing new consults, interact with families, ICU rounds. 

What is the biggest challenge of being an acute care surgeon?

Balancing obligations to families and patients with the unpredictable nature of the day's patient volume. 

How do you foresee acute care surgery changing over the next 20 years?

Shift to "shift" coverage like emergency medicine, growing patient volumes and severity of illness.

What advice would you give a student who is considering a residency in your specialty?

Exposure to the field is critical. Patient populations are diverse from general surgery, ICU and trauma.