USA Health welcomes new general surgeon

USA Health has expanded its surgical services with the addition of Emily M. Smith, M.D., a Mobile native who recently completed five years of residency training in general surgery at USA Health. 

Smith will join the general surgery team at USA Health University Hospital and will see patients at the Mastin Patient Care Center. She will care for patients with various conditions that require general surgery including hernias, gallbladder disease and others.

“My ultimate goal is to become a breast surgeon, caring for patients with breast cancer and other benign breast conditions,” she said.

Smith said one of the most compelling aspects of surgery is the ability to truly step into a patient’s life, perform a tangible intervention and immediately see a positive result. “Once you step into the operating room, the patient has put their complete trust in you,” she said. “This intimate relationship with the patient is one of the main reasons I chose to become a surgeon.”

Smith graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Mississippi, where she was honored as a Taylor Medalist, receiving the university’s highest academic award in 2015. Her senior thesis, “Initial Breakdown Pulses in Lightning Flashes,” was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

In 2019, Smith graduated from the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama, where she won the Merk Award for superior academic achievement, presented to only two graduates, and the Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation, presented to female students who graduate in the top 10% of their class. As a rising junior medical student, she was awarded the Chandler Foundation Scholarship, given to students ranking in the upper 25% of the class after the first two years.

During her fourth year of medical school, Smith was among 13 students chosen for the USA chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society. AOA recognizes and advocates for excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine. Students in the top 25% of a medical school class are eligible for nomination, and up to 16% may be elected based on leadership, character, community service and professionalism.

While attending medical school, Smith also volunteered and worked as an instructor in the Anatomy Outreach and DREAM programs, teaching and mentoring students who were interested in exploring medicine as a career choice.

Smith has authored several publications and has presented research at multiple national meetings and conferences.