James R. Korndorffer Jr., M.D., MHPE, FACS, joined the University of Texas Austin, Dell Medical School in January of 2025 and leads the continuum of medical education to train the next generation of physicians and health care professionals. In addition, he leads efforts across The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas System to support interprofessional education, curricular innovation, research and other learning activities.

Korndorffer graduated cum laude from Tulane University with an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. He received his medical degree from the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery internship and residency at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he received the award for best resident teacher.

With a strong interest in teaching, Korndorffer left a successful private practice after eight years and joined the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine He became an associate professor of surgery in 2005 and professor in 2010. He served in numerous leadership roles at Tulane, including vice chair of the surgery department from 2012 to 2017, program director for the surgical residency from 2006 to 2017, assistant dean for graduate medical education and founding medical director for the Tulane Center for Advance Medical Simulation. Continuing his passion for education, Korndorffer completed his Master of Health Professions Education at the University of Illinois Chicago while working full time at Tulane.

Korndorffer joined Stanford School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery as the inaugural vice chair for education in 2017. He assumed additional leadership responsibilities within the department, including director of the Goodman Surgical Simulation Center and the surgical education fellowship program.

He was one of the early adopters of the use of simulation for surgical training and has been actively involved in surgical education research since 2003. Some of the early work using proficiency-based training instead of time base training for skill acquisition. This has now become the norm. He is now actively involved investigating the role simulation education has in patient quality and healthcare system safety.

Korndorffer has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as 10 book chapters, and he has held over 150 presentations at national and international meetings.

• Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3
• CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date