Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest 
quality improvement, geriatric trauma, health literacy in trauma and acute care surgery patients

Biography

Samantha Baker, M.D., MSHPEd, is an assistant professor within the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery in the Department of Surgery.

Dr. Baker earned her undergraduate degree and her medical degree from Louisiana State University. She completed her general surgery residency at UAB, and spent 3 years as a Veterans Affairs research fellow for the Birmingham VA. While completing her residency, she also earned her M.S. in Health Professions Education from Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. After completing a trauma surgery fellowship at LSU, she returned to UAB in 2024 as a faculty member.

Select Publications

Baker S, Waldrop MG, Swords J, Wang T, Heslin M, Contreras C, Reddy S. Timed Stair-Climbing as a Surrogate Marker for Sarcopenia Measurements in Predicting Surgical Outcomes. J Gastrointest Surg. 2019 Dec;23(12):2459-2465. doi: 10.1007/s11605-018-4042-0. Epub 2018 Dec 3. PMID: 30511131.

Holleran L, Baker S, Cheng C, Wilson J, Mickelson R, Kazana I, Messinger-Rapport B, Shahin J, Cully J, Naik AD, Godwin KM. Using Multisite Process Mapping to Aid Care Improvement: An Examination of Inpatient Suicide-Screening Procedures. J Healthc Qual. 2019 Mar/Apr;41(2):110-117. doi: 10.1097/JHQ.0000000000000182. PMID: 30664034.

Dasinger EA, Graham LA, Wahl TS, Richman JS, Baker S, Hawn MT, Hernandez-Boussard T, Rosen AK, Mull HJ, Copeland LA, Whittle JC, Burns EA, Morris MS. Preoperative opioid use and postoperative pain associated with surgical readmissions. Am J Surg. 2019 Nov;218(5):828-835. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2019.02.033. Epub 2019 Feb 28. PMID: 30879796.

Gleason F, Malone E, Wood L, Baker S, Hollis RH, Richman J, Chu D, Lindeman B. The Job Demands-Resources Model as a Framework to Identify Factors Associated With Burnout in Surgical Residents. Journal of Surgical Research. 2019 Nov 27. pii: S0022-4804(19)30764-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2019.10.034

Baker S, Chu DI. Physical, Laboratory, Radiographic, and Endoscopic Workup for Clostridium difficile Colitis. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2020 Mar;33(2):82-86. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-3400474. Epub 2020 Feb 25. PMID: 32104160; PMCID: PMC7042018.

Chang ME, Baker SJ, Dos Santos Marques IC, Liwo AN, Chung SK, Richman JS, Knight SJ, Fouad MN, Gakumo CA, Davis TC, Chu DI. Health Literacy in Surgery. Health Lit Res Pract. 2020 Feb 11;4(1):e46-e65. doi: 10.3928/24748307-20191121-01. PMID: 32053207; PMCID: PMC7015264.

Baker S, Malone E, Graham L, Dasinger E, Wahl T, Titan A, Richman J, Copeland L, Burns E, Whittle J, Hawn M, Morris M. Patient-reported health literacy scores are associated with readmissions following surgery. Am J Surg. 2020 Nov;220(5):1138-1144. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.06.071. Epub 2020 Jul 8. PMID: 32682501.

Awad S, Alkashash AM, Amin M, Baker S, Rose JB. Biochemical Predictors of Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Front Oncol. 2020 May 12;10:620. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.00620. PMID: 32477933; PMCID: PMC7235358.

Dos Santos Marques IC, Theiss LM, Baker SJ, Liwo A, Wood LN, Cannon JA, Morris MS, Kennedy GD, Fouad MN, Davis TC, Chu DI. Low Health Literacy Exists in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Population and Is Disproportionately Prevalent in Older African Americans. Crohns Colitis 360. 2020 Oct;2(4):otaa076. doi: 10.1093/crocol/otaa076. Epub 2020 Oct 12. PMID: 33442671; PMCID: PMC7802758.

Gleason F, Baker S, Wood T, Wood L, Hollis RH, Chu DI, Lindeman B. Emotional Intelligence and Burnout in Surgical Residents: A 5-Year Study. J Surg Educ. 2020 Nov-Dec;77(6):e63-e70. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.07.044. Epub 2020 Aug 18. PMID: 32819871.

Mullins CH, Gleason F, Wood T, Baker S, Cortez AR, Lovasik B, Sandhu G, Cooper A, Hildreth AN, Simmons JD, Delman KA, Lindeman B. Do Internal or External Characteristics More Reliably Predict Burnout in Resident Physicians: A Multi-institutional Study. J Surg Educ. 2020 Nov- Dec;77(6):e86-e93. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.09.024. Epub 2020 Oct 17. PMID: 33077415.

Graham LA, Hawn MT, Dasinger EA, Baker S, Oriel BS, Wahl TS, Richman JS, Copeland LA, Itani KMF, Burns EA, Whittle J, Morris MS. Psychosocial Determinants of Readmission After Surgery. Med Care. 2021 Jun 21. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001600. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34149017.

Baker S, Gleason F, Lovasik B, Sandhu G, Cortez A, Hildreth A, Cooper A, Simmons J, Delman KA, Lindeman B. Relationship between burnout and mistreatment: Who plays a role? Am J Surg. 2021 Jul 22:S0002-9610(21)00340-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.06.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34325910.

Rentas C, Baker S, Goss L, Richman J, Knight SJ, Key C, Morris M. Patients undergoing colorectal surgery at a Veterans Affairs Hospital do not experience racial disparity in length of stay either before or after implementing an enhanced recovery pathway. BMC Surg. 2022 May 21;22(1):201. doi: 10.1186/s12893-022-01647-3. PMID: 35598012; PMCID: PMC9124421.

Barnes G, Baker S, Cortez, A. et al. A therapeutic intervention for burnout in general surgery residents. Global Surg Educ 2, 25 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44186-023-00100-0

Millar JK, Matusko N, Evans J, Baker S, Lindeman B, Jung S, Minter RM, Weinstein E, Goodstein F, Cook MR, Brasel KJ, Sandhu G. Faculty Entrustment and Resident Entrustability. JAMA Surg. 2024 Jan 10:e236915. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2023.6915. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38198146; PMCID: PMC10782383.

Honors and Awards

Top ten finalists for the 2023 Jameson L. Chassin, MD, FACS, Award for Professionalism in General Surgery, American College of Surgeons (2023)

Top ten finalists for the 2023 Resident Award for Exemplary Teaching, American College of Surgeons (2023)

John & Cassie Porterfield Chief Resident of the Year Award (2022-2023)

Operating Room Team Award (2022-2023)

Acute Care Surgery Chief Award (2022-2023)

Dr. Laurence Rosenberg Senior Resident Teaching Award (2022-2023)

Dr. Laurence Rosenberg Senior Resident Teaching Award (2021-2022)

Resident Award for Clinical Instruction in Undergraduate Medical Education (2021-2022)

Emergency Medicine Consultant of the Year (2021-2022)

Dr. Leonick A. Ahumada Junior Resident Teaching Award (2020-2021)

Education

Medical School
Lousiana State University Health Sciences Center

Residency
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Fellowship
Lousiana State University Health Sciences Center

Contact

Phone
Patient Appointments and Questions: 205-975-7521

Email
sjbaker@uabmc.edu