Bio
Alex Macario, MD, MBA is vice-chair for education and Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he serves as the program director for the anesthesiology residency, which has more than 100 housestaff.
Dr. Macario serves as director for the American Board of Anesthesiology. This is an exceptional honor as one anesthesiologist is appointed each year with each director serving for 12 years. The mission of the Board is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology. Dr. Macario chairs the research committee, and will serve as president of the American Board of Anesthesiology at the end of his term.
Dr. Macario is a member of the Anesthesiology Review Committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education which aims to improve health care and population health by assessing and advancing the quality of resident physicians' education.
Born in Argentina, Dr. Macario came to the US at age 10 with his family, and completed his undergraduate, medical school and business school education at the University of Rochester with the Wilson Merit Scholarship. He trained in anesthesiology at Stanford, served as Chief Resident, and completed a fellowship in health services research.
Dr. Macario’s clinical practice is with adult patients in the general operating room. He also serves as a hospital scheduler to provide management and leadership in the medical center's operating rooms and procedure rooms including interventional radiology and endoscopy.
Dr. Macario has received numerous awards, including being internationally recognized with the Excellence in Education Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists given to one anesthesiologist per year for extraordinary contributions to graduate medical education. Dr. Macario was also the inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Medical Education as Program Director Award for the Stanford University Medical Center. He has also been honored with the Faculty Mentor Award on two occasions from the American Society of Anesthesiology for his efforts to foster diversity.
A member of the faculty at Stanford since 1995, Dr. Macario established a well known academic program in operating room management, including creating the Management of Perioperative Services Fellowship which has trained dozens of physicians from the US and other countries. Dr. Macario also designed and led other innovative educational programs, including the Stanford Fellowship in Anesthesia Research and Medicine track for anesthesia residents who want to pursue research-intensive careers, many of whom have gone on to obtain NIH funding.
Dr. Macario serves as the founding program director for the Combined Residency in Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology as well as the founding associate program director for the Combined Residency in Pediatrics and Anesthesiology.
Dr. Macario's research career has been dedicated to the economics of health care, and helped develop the scientific study of the management of the operating room suite including pioneering work related to efficiency & scheduling. More recently, Dr. Macario's research team also studies medical education and board certification.
For his career Dr. Macario’s innovative work has led to 190 peer reviewed publications which have 10,200 citations. Dr. Macario’s H-Index is 54 and his I-10 Index is 127. An index of h indicates an investigator has published h papers each of which has been cited in other papers at least h times.
Dr. Macario authored "A Sabbatical in Madrid: A Diary of Spain," an award winning travel memoir. Dr. Macario has two adult children one in San Francisco and the other in New York city, and lives with his wife in their home on the Stanford Campus. In his free time, Dr. Macario enjoys rooting for Stanford sports, biking up the local hills, and playing tennis.
Clinical Focus
- Multispecialty including for example anesthesia for orthopedics, urology, neurosurgery, ambulatory surgery, and general surgery
- Anesthesiology
Academic Appointments
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Professor - Med Center Line, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
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Member, Bio-X
Administrative Appointments
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Program Director, Combined Internal Medicine-Anesthesiology residency (2013 - Present)
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Associate Program Director, Combined Pediatrics and Anesthesiology Residency (2010 - Present)
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Founder, Faculty Teaching Scholars Program, Department of Anesthesiology (2007 - 2017)
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Director, CME Grand Rounds Program, Department of Anesthesiology (2010 - Present)
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Executive Committee, Faculty Senate, Stanford University School of Medicine (2007 - 2012)
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Program Director, Anesthesiology Residency (2006 - Present)
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Vice-Chairman for Education, Department of Anesthesiology (2006 - Present)
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Finance Committee, Dept of Anesthesiology (2003 - Present)
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Visiting Professor, TAISS, Madrid, Spain (2001 - 2002)
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Governance Committee, Dept. of Anesthesiology (1997 - Present)
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Program Director, Management of Perioperative Services Fellowship (1996 - Present)
Honors & Awards
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Excellence in Education Award (one national awardee per year), American Society of Anesthesiologists (2018)
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Global Health Grant: Collaboration in Zimbabwe for anesthesiologist training and education research, Sponsor: Office of International Affairs, Stanford University (2015)
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Inaugural recipient, Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Medical Education as Program Director, Stanford University (2015)
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Medical technology grant: A monitoring system to prevent unnecessary blood wastage, Sponsor: Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education (2015)
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Faculty Mentor Award, American Society of Anesthesiology, Committee on Professional Diversity (2012 and 2013)
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Charter member, Education Academy, Foundation for Anesthesia Education & Research (2012)
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Education Advisory Board, Association of University Anesthesiologists (2012)
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First place, “best article”, Journal of Medical Internet Research: 4th World Congress on Social Media & Web 2.0 Health & Medicine (2012)
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Ellis N. Cohen Achievement Award (Department of Anesthesiology highest honor), Stanford University (2009)
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Keynote speaker, American Association of Clinical Directors Annual Meeting (2007)
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1st place, Literature Prize, American Society of Anesthesiology Annual Meeting (2004)
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Research Incentive Award, Testing a secure Web based, decision support system for anesthesia, Stanford University Office of Technology Licensing (2001-2002)
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Principal Investigator for grant on patient preferences for postoperative outcomes, Foundation for Anesthesia Education Research (1998)
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Annual Resident Research Prize, 3rd Place, American Society of Anesthesiologists (1995)
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Valdes - Dapena Research Prize, The Graduate Hospital, University of Pennsylvania (1991)
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Graduation Speaker, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Rochester (1986)
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Phi Beta Kappa, University of Rochester (1986)
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Rigby - Wile Prize in Biology, University of Rochester (1985)
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Joseph C. Wilson Scholar, University of Rochester (1982)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Member, ACGME Anesthesiology Review Committee (2019 - Present)
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Director, Board of Directors, American Board of Anesthesiology (2017 - Present)
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Examiner, American Board of Anesthesiology (2011 - Present)
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Editorial Board, Medscape Anesthesiology website at http://www.medscape.com/anesthesiology (2010 - 2019)
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Member, Association of University Anesthesiologists (honorific society) (2000 - Present)
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Editorial Board, Anesthesiology News (1999 - 2019)
Professional Education
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Board Certification: American Board of Anesthesiology, Anesthesiology (1995)
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Residency: Stanford University Anesthesiology Residency (1994) CA
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Internship: Graduate Hospital (Closed) (1991) PA
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Fellowship: Stanford University Medical Center (1995) CA
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Medical Education: University of Rochester (1990) NY
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Chief Resident, Stanford University, Anesthesiology (1994)
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MBA, University of Rochester, Health Economics (1988)
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BA, University of Rochester, Sociology (1986)
Community and International Work
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Zimbabwe Global Health elective for anesthesia residency
Topic
Anesthesiology
Partnering Organization(s)
University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Department of Anesthesiology
Populations Served
Housestaff
Location
International
Ongoing Project
Yes
Opportunities for Student Involvement
No
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Postgraduate Fellowship in Global Health
Topic
Faculty
Location
International
Ongoing Project
Yes
Opportunities for Student Involvement
No
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Global Health Trip 1994, Vietnam
Topic
Anesthesia for cleft lip and palate surgery on children
Partnering Organization(s)
Interplast
Populations Served
Pediatrics
Location
International
Ongoing Project
No
Opportunities for Student Involvement
No