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Dr. Ryan Kim’s first introduction to BMC2 was the opportunity to attend a few meetings during his general surgery residency at Central Michigan University. After he became an attending physician in 2017, he participated in BMC2 Vascular Surgery with his hospital, Covenant Medical Center, and his practice, Mid Michigan Vascular Surgery, both located in Saginaw. He also has active staff affiliation with Ascension St. Mary’s of Michigan. In 2022, he became the BMC2 physician champion for Covenant Hospital. “Being a part of BMC2 makes me more conscientious about my work and how I need to improve to have a better patient outcome,” said Dr. Kim.
This year, Dr. Kim became more engaged in the consortium and joined the Vascular Surgery Advisory Council and Research and Publication Strategy Committee (RPSC).
BMC2 integrated these groups early in 2023 to help strengthen the organization and benefit all consortium members by including a diverse group of partners representing the varied interests and priorities across Michigan. These groups will help ensure we focus on high-impact, high-value initiatives and produce high-priority and impactful research using BMC2 data.
“I believe having a good patient outcome is one of the most important goals as a surgeon,” said Dr. Kim. “I wanted to be involved in these committees to help achieve my own goal and for others.”
While he is just getting started as a committee member, Dr. Kim happily prepared and gave a talk which included a guideline review on “Advancing Peripheral Artery Disease Quality of Care and Outcomes Through Patient-Reported Health Status Assessment: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association, 2022” during the Vascular Surgery Physician Meeting at Boyne Mountain Resort in May.
As part of the Advisory Board and RPSC, Dr. Kim likes working side-by-side with some of the well-known surgeons in the vascular surgery community and seeing how great minds work together to devise common goals.
Dr. Kim began his education at Calvin College in Grand Rapids before transferring to Loma Linda University of Allied Health in California, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Laboratory Science/Medical Technology. While learning to sew in medical school at Ross University School of Medicine in the West Indies, Dr. Kim, who is ambidextrous, had trouble figuring out which hand to sew with. Because surgical instruments are right-handed, he ultimately chose the right hand. He says ambidexterity is a huge benefit as a vascular surgeon, especially in endovascular procedures. Although, his partner often makes fun of him for being on the wrong side of the table.
After completing his residency at Central Michigan University, Dr. Kim did his Vascular Surgery Fellowship at the University of Missouri – Columbia. He returned to Saginaw to join his mentor in private practice in 2017. He is involved in training medical students and general surgery residents at Central Michigan University as a clinical assistant professor of surgery. He also serves as a division chief of surgical specialties at Covenant Hospital since 2021.
Dr. Kim is an avid golfer and relates it to being like surgery in that it makes you feel great when you have a good outcome, yet it undoubtedly makes you humble.
Good patient outcomes are important to Dr. Kim, both personally and professionally. “BMC2 is a great organization, and it has tremendous value to our vascular surgery community in Michigan. It will continue to be a part of our practice and promote higher standards.”