Bio
Alex Macario, MD, MBA is vice-chair for education and Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Macario also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Anesthesiology and is currently the Secretary. This is an exceptional honor as one anesthesiologist is appointed each year with each Director serving for 12 years. The mission of the Board is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology. Dr. Macario will serve as president of the American Board of Anesthesiology at the end of his term.
Dr. Macario is a member of the Anesthesiology Review Committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education which aims to improve health care and population health by advancing the quality of resident physicians' education.
Born in Argentina, Dr. Macario came to the US at age 10 with his family, and completed his undergraduate, medical school and business school education at the University of Rochester with the Wilson Merit Scholarship. He trained in anesthesiology at Stanford, served as Chief Resident, and completed a fellowship in health services research.
Dr. Macario’s clinical practice is with adult patients in the general operating room. He also serves as hospital scheduler to provide management & leadership in the medical center's operating rooms and procedure rooms including interventional radiology and endoscopy.
Dr. Macario has received numerous awards, including being internationally recognized with the Excellence in Education Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists given to one anesthesiologist per year for extraordinary contributions to graduate medical education. Dr. Macario was also the inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Medical Education as Program Director Award for the Stanford University Medical Center. He has also been honored with the Faculty Mentor Award on two occasions from the American Society of Anesthesiology for his efforts to foster diversity.
A member of the faculty at Stanford since 1995, Dr. Macario established a well known academic program in operating room management, including creating the Management of Perioperative Services Fellowship which has trained dozens of physicians from the US and other countries. Dr. Macario also designed and led other innovative educational programs, including the Stanford Fellowship in Anesthesia Research and Medicine track for anesthesia residents who want to pursue research-intensive careers, many of whom have gone on to obtain NIH funding.
Dr. Macario serves as the founding program director for the Combined Residency in Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology as well as the founding associate program director for the Combined Residency in Pediatrics and Anesthesiology.
Dr. Macario's research career has been dedicated to the economics of health care, helping develop the scientific study of the management of the operating room suite including pioneering work related to efficiency & scheduling. Dr. Macario's research team also studies medical education and board certification.
Dr. Macario’s innovative work has led to 200+ peer reviewed publications which have 10,800 citations. Dr. Macario’s H-Index is 54. An index of h indicates an investigator has published h papers each of which has been cited in other papers at least h times. His I-10 Index is 133 meaning that 133 of his articles have been cited at least 10 times.
Dr. Macario authored "A Sabbatical in Madrid: A Diary of Spain," an award winning travel memoir. Dr. Macario has 2 adult children one in San Francisco & the other in New York City, & lives with his wife in their home on the Stanford Campus. In his free time, Dr. Macario enjoys rooting for Stanford sports, biking up the local hills, & playing tennis.
