PHYSICIAN PROFILE
Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD
ichael A.E. Ramsay, MD, FRCA, Dr. Ramsay is honored by his 20-plus year as I was in the operating room until
is chairman of the department membership on the Baylor University 9 a.m. when the marathon started. It
of anesthesiology and pain Medical Center Board of Trustees as was close by, so I did get underway
management at Baylor University Medical its first physician member. His most 15 minutes late and finished in 3 hours,
Center, and president of Baylor Scott recent appointment is to the Board of but my official time was 3 hours and
& White Research Institute. A native of Trustees of the Patient Safety Movement 15 minutes, which meant I didn’t
Ireland, Dr. Ramsay was educated and Foundation as its chairman. qualify. (Back then, runners all clocked
spent the early part of his career in
the same start time.)
London before coming to Baylor University What did you want to be when you grew up? Medical Center in the mid-1970s. Physician, right from the get-go, which Tell me about your family.
saved me some time. (He explained that in My wife Zöe and I celebrated our 50th
transplant program, Dr. Ramsay has England where he went to school, if early anniversary in late November 2019! We
delivered anesthesia during more than on you are focused on one field, it speeds have four kids—all very close in age.
1,000 liver transplant surgeries. He is up the process of getting the degree(s) When we moved to Texas from England,
the developer of what he called the you want.) we had four kids under the age of four.
later named in his honor as the Ramsay What was your first job? What do you hope people say
Sedation Scale. Designed to measure Hauling bricks in a wheelbarrow about you behind your back?
and interpret the depth of sedation for at a building site. That I’m honest and hardworking.
was one of the most commonly used What did your parents do for work? What’s your favorite movie?
measures of sedation around the world Mom was a radiographer, the equivalent The last movie I went to, which was
for decades. of an X-ray tech today, and my dad was Dr. Zhivago in 1965—[silence]—seriously,
in business. I can’t sit still to watch an entire movie,
Director of anesthesia for the liver
Controlled Sedation Scale, which was
patients in the critical care unit, this scale
Since joining Baylor Scott & White
Research Institute, he has developed
but I do see pieces of them on TV.
infrastructure to increase the number Why Baylor Scott & White? of active clinical trials from 250 to more Oh, so many reasons… mainly, I like that we When is the last time you cried?
than 2,000 today and has supported lead—so much innovation and so many As chairman of the Patient Safety
investigators in obtaining significant firsts, and we’ve got the right focus on Movement Foundation, there are many
funding, including National Institutes of patient safety—our Zero Harm campaign opportunities due to the moving stories I
Health Grants. Currently, he is principal will make us the safest healthcare system. hear from loved ones about preventable
investigator of several trials.
deaths—and I’m motivated to do what
What’s the longest surgery you’ve I can, personally and professionally, to
physicians to share their experiences taken part in? further our movement.
and findings, he has authored nearly A hand re-implant that took about 20 350 publications. Dr. Ramsay holds hours. Unfortunately, that impacted my professorships at Texas A&M Health ability to qualify for the Boston Marathon Science Center, the University of Texas when I was the fittest I’d ever been,
Believing it is imperative for practicing
Sections of this profile were excerpted from an extended
piece featured on Scrubbing.In; for the in-depth interview,
visit BSWHealth.com/DrOfficeRamsay.
Southwestern Medical School and Texas
A&M Health Science Center Baylor
College of Dentistry.
A member and leader of numerous
boards, both past and present,
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THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE FOUNDATION NEWS / SPRING 2020