Donald T. Hess, MD

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Donald Hess, MD, FACS is currently an Assistant Professor of surgery at BUSM and the chief of the Section of Minimally Invasive and Weight Loss Surgery at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

His clinical practice is devoted to minimally invasive and bariatric surgery. He has tremendous surgical expertise in laparoscopic bariatric surgery (sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass) and revision bariatric surgery. He also has an interest in minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery, surgery for disease of the stomach and esophagus, intestinal surgery, single-site surgery, complex hernia surgery and general surgery.

He is also involved in surgical education. He is the program director of the general surgery residency, and a member of the GME (Graduate Medical Education) committee. He is a member of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery, and represents them on the American College of Surgeon's Board of Governors.

He is a member of the Association of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He has been recognized by Boston Magazine’s “Top Docs” issue for being “top” in his respective field since 2010 and was a 2013 recipient of the BUSM Evans Center Collaborator of the Year Award.

Hess is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. and received his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, N.Y. He completed a residency in general surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at New England Deaconess Hospital, both in Boston. He joined BUSM after working for the U.S. Air Force as an assistant professor of surgery stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Publications

  • Published 9/9/2024

    Rasic G, Beaulieu-Jones BR, Richman AP, Hess DT, Pernar LI. Mining for Gold: A Mixed-Methods Study on Personal Statements in General Surgery Residency Applications. J Surg Res. 2024 Oct; 302:850-856. PMID: 39255685.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/20/2024

    Rasic G, Hess DT, Richman AP, Pernar LI. Seeing is Believing - A Qualitative Study Exploring What Motivates Medical Students to Pursue a Career In General Surgery. J Surg Educ. 2024 Aug; 81(8):1050-1056. PMID: 38906788.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/28/2024

    Hess DT. Invited Commentary. J Am Coll Surg. 2024 Jun 01; 238(6):1034. PMID: 38546284.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/18/2024

    Hess DT. Invited Commentary. J Am Coll Surg. 2024 Jun 01; 238(6):999-1000. PMID: 38497577.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/16/2023

    Nudel J, Kenzik KM, Rajendran I, Hofman M, Srinivasan J, Woodson J, Hess DT. A machine learning framework for optimizing obesity care by simulating clinical trajectories and targeted interventions. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Nov; 31(11):2665-2675. PMID: 37840392.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Section Chief, Surgery
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Education

  • University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, MD
  • Williams College, BA