FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Communications and Marketing

Sheila Champlin – (901) 448-4957, schampli@uthsc.edu or

Dena Owens – (901) 448-4072, dowens10@uthsc.edu

 

 

Pyongsoo David Yoon, MD, Named Co-Director, Surgical,

Cardiovascular Institute in the College of Medicine, Memphis, at

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center,

Methodist University Hospital and UT Medical Group

 

Memphis, Tenn. (April 25, 2011) – David M. Stern, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), and Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE, chief executive officer for Methodist University Hospital and assistant professor in the UT College of Medicine, have announced the appointment of Pyongsoo David Yoon, MD, as co-director, surgical, for the Cardiovascular Institute for Methodist University Hospital and UT Medical Group.  Dr. Yoon has also been named an associate professor for the Departments of Surgery and Medicine in the UT College of Medicine, Memphis.  The UT College of Medicine includes three campuses in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. 

Dr. Yoon is a native of Seoul, Korea, and an internationally renowned cardiovascular surgeon. Earlier in his career, he worked at Forum Health, a health care system in the greater Youngstown, Ohio, area for more than 12 years, serving in a variety of positions including director of Cardiothoracic Surgical Services and chairman of the Cardiovascular Medicine Department. He has also contributed to patient care through Western Reserve Healthcare-Northside Medical Center in Youngstown, as well as Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio, part of the Forum Health system, where he was chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. Most recently, Dr. Yoon was director of Cardiac Surgery for Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Va.

The national search for this position was ably led by Timothy C. Fabian, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Surgery, and Guy L. Reed, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Medicine, both in the UT College of Medicine.  Dr. Yoon emerged as the leader among a field of distinguished candidates who were evaluated by the eight-member search committee. 

“Dr. Yoon is an outstanding technical surgeon with an enormous volume of operative experience,” Dr. Fabian said.  “He provides expertise and strong leadership in the development of standards for the provision of quality care and patient safety at the hospital level.  He is an exceptional leader who will help guide the Cardiovascular Institute to excellence and national recognition,” he added.

Dr. Yoon received his undergraduate degree with top honors in 1983 from the Virginia Commonwealth University and his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1987.  Through an internship and residency in general surgery in 1992 at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, he furthered his training.  The culmination of Dr. Yoon’s formal training entailed the completion of both a research fellowship as well as a clinical fellowship at the Allegheny General Hospital – Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1994 and 1995, respectively.

With many honors to his credit, Dr. Yoon has made great strides in the field of surgery.  He was the first to use intra-operative TEE* in Youngtown-Warren Region and has continued use since 1997.  He performed the first stentless valve replacement and was the first to develop a minimally invasive cardiac surgery and beating heart surgery program in the Youngstown area.  Dr. Yoon was also the first cardiovascular surgeon to use routine intra-operative epi-aortic ultrasound in northeast Ohio and has continued this routine use since 1999.

Dr. Yoon has given more than 60 presentations and talks, and has served as keynote speaker as well as invited lecturer throughout his career.  He also serves as a mentor to trainees and fellows, and has seen more than 11 trainees selected to practice by noteworthy institutions.  In addition to the many successes he has witnessed in the operating room, Dr. Yoon is also an accomplished athlete as well as marathoner, having completed the 26.2 George Washington Birthday Marathon hosted in Greenbelt, Md.

“I view my mission as working in collaboration with the other surgeons and the cardiologists who have been serving this institution for a long time.  Together we will develop a Cardiovascular Institute which provides care to the community that is second to none,” Dr. Yoon stated.  “I am extremely excited to be here working with the university as well as with Methodist University Hospital and UT Medical Group.  I look forward to many future accomplishments,” he added.

About UT Medical Group

UT Medical Group is the private group practice affiliated with the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine faculty. A not-for-profit, non-tax-supported group practice, UTMG is dedicated to quality patient care, medical education, and medical research.  For more information, visit www.utmedicalgroup.com.

 

About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
            With seven hospitals, multiple home health agencies and outpatient clinics to serve the Mid South, Methodist is one of the largest hospitals in the country and has been named the Best metro-area hospital in Memphis by U.S. News & World Report.     Methodist has also been named as one of the 2010 Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks by SDI, the nation’s premier rating system.  Networks are ranked on the best of technology, services and physicians.  Specialty areas: The Neuroscience Institute, The Transplant Institute, The Cancer Center and pediatrics at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital help us provide superior quality healthcare to the Mid-South. 

Building on their longstanding good relationship, in 2002, Methodist Healthcare and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center formally became affiliated. The affiliation was formed to improve patient care by bringing together the best and brightest physicians from the private community with the greatest minds among academic physicians and educators. Methodist Healthcare is working toward becoming one of the top academic medical centers in the country. The affiliation agreement made Methodist Healthcare the principal adult private teaching hospital for UTHSC in the Shelby County area. To demonstrate its commitment to UTHSC, Methodist changed the name of its flagship hospital from Methodist Central Hospital to Methodist University Hospital.

 

About the University of Tennessee Health Science Center

 As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.  In 2011, UT Health Science Center celebrates its centennial: 100 years advancing the future of health care.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  The UTHSC campus in Knoxville includes a College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  In addition, the UTHSC Chattanooga campus includes a College of Medicine and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  Since its founding in 1911, UTHSC has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals on campuses and in health care facilities across the state.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

###

 

 

* Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) uses color Doppler flow mapping to accurately measure residual mitral regurgitation (MR), a disorder of the heart in which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood.