Dr. Ronald Cotton named General Surgery Residency Program Director

The Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ronald T. Cotton as the new program director of our General Surgery Residency Program. Dr. Cotton's replaces Dr. Stephanie Gordy, who will be leaving Baylor College of Medicine for a new professional opportunity.  We would like to thank Dr. Gordy for her outstanding leadership of our program through this challenging pandemic year. Amongst her other contributions, Dr. Gordy helped develop and lead what proved to be an outstanding virtual recruitment program for our general surgery residency applicants. 

Pending final ACGME RRC for Surgery approval, Dr. Cotton will serve in his new role as program director with support from our entire Education Office and our Vice Chair for Education, Dr. Bradford G. Scott. Dr. Scott has previously served as our general surgery program director and associate program director for more than sixteen years. Dr. Cotton will also be supported by our associate program directors, Dr. Neal Barshes (didactics), Dr. Eric Silberfein (clinical and professional development), and Dr. R. Mario Vera (simulation). Dr. Jed G. Nuchtern (global surgery track), Dr. Nader Massarweh (research track) and Dr. Sanjeev Vasudevan (research curriculum) round out the faculty leadership of our GME team. 

Dr. Cotton has been an instrumental part of our education team since his joining our faculty in 2015 following the completion of his general surgery residency and liver transplant surgery fellowship at Baylor. He currently leads our abdominal transplant program at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. A native Houstonian, Dr. Cotton offers our program the unique perspective of a former trainee who has also matriculated through the HISD DeBakey High School for Health Professions, the University of Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine School of Medicine.   Since joining our faculty, Dr. Cotton has served in various educational leadership roles, most recently as the Core Clerkship Director leading and helping to significantly advance the educational experience of our medical students.  

We are excited to welcome Dr. Cotton into this new role leading our general surgery residency program. We look forward to his lending his vast experience in our educational programs to help lead our general surgery program to an even greater level of excellence.