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David I. Soybel, MD

Contact Information

Professional Interests

Physiology and Surgery of Gastrointestinal conditions and hernia. Undergraduate Medical Education and Graduate Surgical Education. Arts and Medicine.

Courses Taught

On Doctoring-1
PBL-2

Mentoring Information

Throughout my career, I have aligned my academic interests and goals with opportunities to provide mentorship to undergraduates and medical students, surgical residents and young faculty (PhD and MD). In this regard, I have served as principal mentor to a number of medical students who obtained Howard Hughes Fellowships for a research year, all of whom are now faculty in leading institutions such as Stanfod, U-Wisconsin Madison and UCSF. In addition, I have served as principal or co-mentor in research to a number of residents in surgery, helping them to obtain independent funding support from NIH (F32) and surgical society fellowships. Former resident research fellows and mentees include individuals with professorial appointments and in some instances major leadership positions at institutions such as Washington University, the Mayo Clinic-Rochester, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Ohio State University, UC-Davis, UCSF, Stanford, Penn State-Hershey, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, and the ACGME. Most recently, at the Penn State College of Medicine, I provided mentorship or co-mentorship for numerous medical students, residents, and young to mid-level faculty, a number of whom have attracted institutional, foundation or NIH support for their work. Most recently I worked with a group of Dartmouth undergraduates exploring how poetry and art may inform the way a surgeon understands the patient with a surgical illness.

Biography

I joined the staff at the White river Junction VA in March 2020 and stepped away from administrative duties in June 2025. Previously I held the David L. Nahrwold Professorship in Surgery at Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and the appointment of Chief of General Surgery Specialties & Surgical Oncology at the Penn State- Hershey Medical Center in Hershey PA. From 1993-2011 I held appointments as Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Senior Staff Surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA. During my career I held grants from the Medical Research Service and the Office of Rural Health of the Veterans Administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK, NIGMS), and different foundation awards. In the past, I served as Program Chair for the Associate for Academic Surgery (1996-1998) and Publications/Program Chair for the Society of University Surgeons (1997-1999). In 2000 I served as President of the Association for Academic Surgery. In 2005, I was recognized as a Teacher of the Year by the Association for Surgical Education and over the years received number of institutional awards for excellence in teaching. Currently I serve on the Editorial Board of the Annals of Surgery and Editor-in-Chief for the internet-based medical information program Up-To-Date (General Surgery package).