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John Maa, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director, Surgical Hospitalist Program
Contact Information
Academic Telephone: (415) 476-0762
Fax: (415) 476-8694
john.maa@ucsfmedctr.org
Education
- A.B., Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1986-90
- M.D., Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1990-94
Residencies
- University of California, San Francisco, Resident, General Surgery, 1994-02
Fellowships
-
University of California, San Francisco, Fellow, Health Care Policy, 2004-06
Board Certification
- American Board of Surgery, 2003
Clinical Expertise
- Emergency surgical care
- Abdominal wall reconstruction (ventral incisional hernia)
- Inguinofemoral hernia
Research Interests
- Quality improvement
- Patient safety
- Access to emergency care
- Surgical health care policy
- Surgical education
Biography
Dr. John Maa is a surgeon dedicated to improving the quality and access of emergency surgical care. He earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School, and served as a captain in the medical corps of the U.S. Army for nine years. During medical school, he was awarded the New York City Mayor's Prize for his research thesis entitled "Concomitant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infection in New York City, 1986-1991". During his general surgical residency at UCSF, Dr. Maa was awarded an NIH Gastrointestinal Research training grant and published numerous scientific articles on pancreatic and gastrointestinal inflammation (see below).
After completing his residency, Dr. Maa completed a Fellowship in Health Policy at the UCSF Institute of Health Policy Studies, exploring mechanisms to improve the overall structure and processes of general surgical care nationally. During the fellowship, he also assisted in the creation of the UCSF Surgical Hospitalist Program which seeks to enhance the quality and timeliness of hospital based emergency surgical care. During the past year, Dr Maa assisted in the creation of a multidisciplinary course in public policy and advocacy for the professional schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing at UCSF.
Dr. Maa is a member of the board of directors of the American Heart Association, and Associate Director of Surgery Clerkship at UCSF. He participates on several advisory boards and committees that focus on improving care in hospitals. Dr. Maa is currently an Assistant Professor in general surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and Assistant Chair of the Department of Surgery's Quality Improvement Program. Dr. Maa has also received a patent for his invention of a safer central venous catheter.
Research Summary
Dr. Maa's clinical research focuses on the applying the surgical hospitalist model to improve hospital based emergency care, specifically through new processes and strategies that address the challenges of emergency department overcrowding, boarding and ambulance diversion. Dr. Maa helped create the UCSF Surgical Hospitalist program, which serves as the foundation for quality improvement research programs and collaborations with the UCSF Department of Medicine.high quality and timely hospital based emergency surgical care.
In addition to providing inpatient care more efficiently and addressing the national challenges in emergency call coverage, surgical hospitalists are also more readily available to teach surgical residents and medical students, and thereby promote the overall educational goals for the Department of Surgery
Selected Publications
- Thomas WK, Maa J, and Wilson AC. Shifting constraints on tRNA genes during mitochondrial DNA evolution in animals New Biologist, 1 Ed. 1989.
- Kirkwood KS, Kim EH, He XD, Calaustro EQ, Domush C, Yoshimi SK, Grady EF, Maa J, Bunnett NW, Debas HT. Substance P inhibits pancreatic exocrine secretion via a neural mechanism. Am J Physiol, Aug/1999;277(2 Pt 1):G314-20.
- Grady EF, Yoshimi SK, Maa J, Valeroso D, Vartanian RK, Rahim S, Kim EH, Gerard C, Gerard N, Bunnett NW, Kirkwood KS. Substance P mediates inflammatory oedema in acute pancreatitis via activation of the neurokinin-1 receptor in rats and mice. Br J Pharmacol, Jun/2000;130(3):505-12.
- Maa J, Grady EF, Yoshimi SK, Drasin TE, Kim EH, Hutter MM, Bunnett NW, Kirkwood KS. Substance P is a determinant of lethality in diet-induced hemorrhagic pancreatitis in mice. Surgery, Aug/2000;128(2):232-9.
- Maa J, Grady EF, Kim EH, Yoshimi SK, Hutter MM, Bunnett NW, Kirkwood KS. NK-1 receptor desensitization and neutral endopeptidase terminate SP-induced pancreatic plasma extravasation. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, Oct/2000;279(4):G726-32.
In the News
John Maa Coauthors Surgical Hospitalist Program Management Guide
Surgical Hospitalist Program News - Mar 25, 2009"Hospitalist medicine is the fastest growing medical specialty in the U.S., and surgical hospitalists are especially poised for rapid growth. Many hospital systems see surgical hospitalists as the most valuable response to the growing crisis of general call coverage and as a critical strategy in their effort to comply with quality measures." Acclaimed as a book that "represents the combined wisdom of many of the early physician and non-physician leaders of the surgical hospitalist field, the guide, coauthored by John Maa, M.D., FACS and John Nelson, MD, FACP, provides tools and strategies for executives and physicians.
Division of General Surgery Launches Surgical Hospitalist Program Website
Division of General Surgery News - Dec 11, 2008The Division of General Surgery is pleased to announce the launch of its Surgical Hospitalist Program Website. This UCSF Surgical Hospitalist Program is the first true surgical hospitalist model for general surgical care in the U.S. Co-founded in 2005 by John Maa, M.D., its current Director, Hobart Harris, M.D., M.P.H, and Jessica Gosnell, M.D., the program has been cited for its innovation in the delivery of healthcare by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Dr. John Maa Moderates Smoking Cessation Summit at Commonwealth Club
FORA.tv / Commonwealth Club of California - Nov 18, 2008San Francisco, CA
Dr. John Maa, an Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director of the Surgical Hospitalist Program at UCSF, and a Board Member of the American Heart Association in San Francisco, moderated a panel discussion, "Smoking Cessation Summit: The Solutions" at the Commonwealth Club of California. The panel included health leaders of business, state government and the CDC and addressed the barriers to overcoming nicotine addiction and smoking reduction among Californians.AHRQ Profile: UCSF Surgical Hospitalist Model Enhances Access to Surgical Consultations, Increases Physician Perceptions of Quality
AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange - May 26, 2008"The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center realigned its surgical team in order to provide increased coverage and consultations in the emergency department (ED) and general acute care units through use of rotating surgical "hospitalists" who take call for a week at a time (rather than the traditional 24-hour on-call shift). This program, which is believed to be the first large-scale implementation of a surgical hospitalist model in the United States, resulted in quicker response time for consultations and, according to physician surveys, shorter ED length of stay (LOS), better patient satisfaction, improved professionalism and resident supervision, and better overall quality of care."
National Impact of Pioneering Surgical Hospitalist Program
UCSF School of Medicine News - Jun 04, 2007At most hospitals nationally, it takes nearly four hours on average before the surgeon on call becomes available, and even longer before the operation is finally begun. At UCSF Medical Center, the goal is for the patient to be seen by a "surgical hospitalist" in less than 30 minutes................"Over the first year of our program, the average waiting time was 20 minutes," says Hobart Harris, MD, Professor of Surgery at UCSF and Chief of the Division of General Surgery.
Photo Provided Courtesy of Majed Photo
