Watch “Influencing Behavior With Quality and Patient Safety Metrics” presented by Klaus Kjaer, MD, MBA from The 14th Robert A. Abraham, MD Endowed Lecture which took place Thursday, November 3rd, 2022.
Klaus Kjaer, MD, MBA
Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, Healthcare Policy and Research
Weill Cornell Medical College
Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer, Weill Cornell Physician Organization
Program Director, NYP Weill Cornell Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship
President, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology
Robert A. Abraham, MD
Robert A. Abraham, M.D. was born in Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College, and his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He practiced general medicine in the Towson area for eight years before training in anesthesiology at the Baltimore City Hospital under Peter J. Safar, M.D. from 1959 to 1961.
Dr. Abraham worked in obstetric anesthesia private practice before becoming a full-time academic obstetric anesthesiologist. From 1964 to 1975, he worked for the Albany Medical Center in New York and joined the Johns Hopkins Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine in 1975. At Johns Hopkins, he was the first full-time Director of Obstetric Anesthesia, and was chosen as Teacher of the Year in 1985.
In 1987, he retired from Johns Hopkins Medicine. During his retirement, he became an accomplished cook and his library of cookbooks rivaled that of his medical texts. Dr. Abraham died February 3, 2005.
The Abraham Lectureship was established in 2000 by former colleagues and residents to recognize Dr. Abraham’s contributions and dedication to obstetric anesthesia education and patient safety, and to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Klaus Kjaer, MD, MBA
Dr. Kjaer obtained his bachelor’s at Stanford and his MD at UC San Francisco prior to completing his internship, residency and fellowship training at Harvard. He moved to New York to join the faculty at Weill Cornell in 2000, and in his 22 years there has held multiple leadership roles. He holds an MBA from Columbia and has served as Weill Cornell’s Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer since 2015. In this role, he works closely with the leadership of Weill Cornell and New York Presbyterian Hospital to support physician-led initiatives focused on improving quality, patient safety, and risk management across all clinical departments.
Dr. Kjaer teaches in the Executive MBA Program at Cornell, where he has developed a course called “Influencing with Quality and Patient Safety Metrics.” In 2014, he received Weill Cornell’s Physician of the Year Award. He is currently a Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell. For the academic year 2022-23, he is serving as the President of the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology.
Previous Lecturers
2001 Jeffrey A. Grass, M.D.
2003 Richard Smiley, M.D., Ph.D.
2004 Graeme N. Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
2007 Lawrence C. Tsen, M.D.
2009 James C. Eisenach, M.D.
2011 Robert R. Gaiser, M.D.
2013 Cynthia A. Wong, M.D.
2014 Brendan Carvalho, MBBCh, FRCA, MDCH
2015 Arvind Palanisamy, M.B.B.S., M.D., F.R.C.A.
2016 Shad Deering, Col., M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
2017 Ahmet A. Baschat, M.D.
2018 Alexander J. Butwick, M.B.B.S.
2019 Medge D. Owen, M.D.
Upcoming Grand Rounds
- 11/10//2022: Quality Assurance Committee Meeting
- 11/17//2022: Yaster-Nichols Lectureship – Randall Flick
- 11/24//2022: HOLIDAY BREAK
- 12/1//2022: Visiting Professor Mark Neuman
- 12/8//2022: Research Day Speaker
- 12/15//2022: Quality Assurance Committee Meeting
- 12/22//2022: Patient-Based Learning Discussion
- 12/29//2022: HOLIDAY BREAK
- 1/5//2022: Visiting Professor Emmett Whitaker
- 1/12//2022: Quality Assurance Committee Meeting
- 1/19//2022: Visiting Professor Daniel McIsaac
- 1/26//2022: Patient-Based Learning Discussion
- 2/2//2022: Visiting Professor Chris Seymour
- 2/9//2022: Combined Grand Rounds-ACCM
Previous Grand Rounds
Watch “Surgeons and Stick Figures: Medical Humanities in Perioperative Medicine” with Dr. Samuel Rodriguez from Stanford University from our Virtual Grand Rounds on August 4th, 2022.
Watch previous Grand Rounds here.
