The American College of Surgeons (ACS) will present David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, with the ACS Lifetime Achievement Award at the ACS Clinical Congress 2024 in San Francisco, California. Dr. Hoyt is the sixth recipient of the award in the ACS’ more than 110-year history.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded by the ACS Board of Regents on the rare occasion of identifying a worthy candidate, recognizes an ACS Fellow’s exceptional contributions to the ACS over several decades. This prolonged, continuous service can take many forms, including volunteer, elected, and staff-level contributions providing guidance, expertise, leadership, and influence across all ACS programs and activities.
“I’m very proud that we have an organization that has allowed me to contribute. In addition to taking care of patients, probably the most satisfying thing you can do is to give to your professional organization. So, to me, this is just a manifestation of what I’ve always enjoyed doing,” said Dr. Hoyt.
Dr. Hoyt is a past ACS Executive Director (2010-2022) and an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
“Dr. Hoyt’s contributions to the ACS have been substantial. His many decades of service to the College, culminating with his tenure as Executive Director, have left an indelible legacy not only on the ACS, but on the field of surgery as a whole. He has invested in the ACS throughout his entire career, and is a most worthy recipient of this recognition,” said ACS Executive Director & CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS.
An ACS Fellow since 1987, Dr. Hoyt served as a Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma and past-Medical Director of the ACS Trauma, Research, and Optimal Patient Care Division (now known as the Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care). He also was a past member of multiple Board of Governors committees. Using his own specialty in trauma surgery, he served as a national faculty member and Director of Training for the ACS’ Advanced Trauma Life Support® course. As a result of this work, he was a recipient of the ACS Distinguished Service Award in 2007 and was selected to deliver the Scudder Oration on Trauma at Clinical Congress in 2008.
During his time as ACS Executive Director, he advanced his earlier work in trauma surgery on measuring system performance via quality indicators and databases, using this approach as a foundation for enhancing ACS Quality Programs. He oversaw the development of the Optimal Resources for Surgical Quality and Safety and Optimal Resources for Surgical Education and Training manuals, which led to an array of new ACS programs in quality verification and surgical education.
“Forty years ago, I experienced the impact of verification programs in trauma in organizing the quality of care. So, when I had the opportunity to join as Executive Director, my hope was that we would be able to bring those same principles to other parts of surgery,” said Dr. Hoyt. “I think we’ve been able to do that with vascular surgery, GI surgery, acute care surgery, and many, many other programs that have really followed the principle of setting standards, creating the infrastructure to support those standards, then verifying with an external peer review team that those standards are being met.”
Dr. Hoyt also oversaw the initiation of the ACS Stop the Bleed program, development of the Military Health System Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons, expansion of membership advocacy and leadership training, and reorganization and expansion of the ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy efforts in monitoring and developing legislation, regulation, and health policy formation. Following the end of his ACS tenure, Dr. Hoyt delivered the Martin Memorial Lecture at Clinical Congress in 2022.
“Dr. David Hoyt’s leadership and mastery has allowed the American College of Surgeons to become the best version of itself. Dr. Hoyt is the definition and embodiment of the ACS Lifetime Achievement Award,” said L. D. Britt, MD, MPH, FACS, the Henry Ford Professor and Edward J. Brickhouse Chairman of Eastern Virginia Medical School Department of Surgery in Norfolk, Virginia, and a Past-President of the ACS (2010–2011).
About David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS
Dr. Hoyt received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and completed his internship, surgical residency, and a research fellowship at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Following his surgical training, Dr. Hoyt joined the faculty at UCSD, where he eventually became the Monroe E. Trout Professor of Surgery and vice-chair of the Department of Surgery. During this period, he maintained National Institutes of Health funding for more than a decade and served as Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium co-chair for 11 years. He simultaneously served as director of the Division of Trauma, Burns, and Critical Care at the UCSD Medical Center for 17 years. While in this role, he participated in the San Diego Country Trauma System’s groundbreaking Medical Audit Committee, which reviewed all trauma deaths for preventable causes and potential improvements applicable to future cases.
Following his time in San Diego, Dr. Hoyt was appointed chair of the Department of Surgery and John E. Connolly Professor of Surgery at UCI, where he quickly received a promotion to Executive Vice-Dean for the UCI School of Medicine. Dr. Hoyt also is a past-president of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Society of General Surgeons of San Diego, Trauma Research and Education Foundation, and Shock Society.
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About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The ACS is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The ACS has approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. “FACS” designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the ACS.
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