by John Howser
Kyla Terhune, MD, MBA, Vice President for Educational Affairs and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, has been named Senior Vice President for Educational Affairs. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.
Terhune, who is also professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology, and serves as an associate chief of staff for Vanderbilt University Hospital, has led Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME) for the past three years.
As one of the nation’s leaders in physician training, many of VUMC’s residency programs are among the nation’s most sought after. The Office of GME is currently responsible for more than 1,200 residents and fellows training in 100 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited residencies and fellowships and over 50 other subspecialty fellowships.
Of immense benefit to Tennesseans, a large number of VUMC’s trainees remain each year in the state to continue training or to provide direct primary or specialized care.
“Kyla is an outstanding leader. People nationally have recognized her immense contributions in designing ways to navigate challenging situations, whether that is staffing models during the pandemic or nimbly tracking resident procedural competencies,” said Donald Brady, MD, Executive Vice President for Educational Affairs for VUMC and Executive Dean for Academic Affairs for Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Locally, through blending her role as an associate chief of staff and Vice President for Educational Affairs, she has modeled efficient, effective bi-directional communication of both system and house staff needs.”
As Senior Vice President, Terhune will continue to lead graduate medical education, with an added emphasis on examining the possibilities for expansion of GME into the regional hospitals. She also will become more involved with system leadership in thinking about innovative ways to bridge the educational and clinical worlds.
“Having completed my own GME training here at Vanderbilt, I’m certainly partial to the training we provide— as we can have the best systems in the world, but the cornerstone of providing care is still in the people, ensuring access and quality in patient care; I’m excited to help be a part of our continued positive trajectory in training these professionals,” Terhune said.
Prior roles Terhune has held include director of VUMC’s Surgery Residency Training Program in the Section of Surgical Sciences and serving in the unique role of Faculty Head of House for the Hank Ingram House with Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Commons. There, she was responsible for approximately 290 first-year undergraduates living in the facility.
Terhune joined Vanderbilt’s faculty in 2011 as assistant professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology and was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and then professor in 2021.
A general surgeon credentialed at both VUMC and the Nashville VA, she also has served as the chief of the Section of General Surgery for the Tennessee Valley Health System with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Terhune is a member of multiple professional organizations and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international professional gatherings, presenting on a diverse range of topics.
She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she earned an AB in molecular biology, and the University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, where she earned a medical degree. She came to VUMC in 2004 and underwent residency training in surgery. She also completed a critical care fellowship in the Department of Anesthesiology and is boarded in both surgery and surgical critical care. In 2016, she earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Graduate Management.
