Since she was 8 years old, KMarie King, MD, MS, MBA, FACS, wanted to be a physician.
“I didn’t have anyone in my life at the time who was a physician, but I had this need to make sure people are well and environments are healthy,” she said.
Dr. King’s curiosity, natural ability to connect, and dedication to excellence took her around the country and led her to become the current president of the SSC.
Path to Excellence
Dr. King’s career began at St. Joseph’s University in New York for her undergraduate degree, then Washington University in St. Louis for medical school, University of Pittsburgh for residency, Mayo Clinic for Fellowship, Brandeis University for her MBA, and the US Army for Operation Desert Storm.
“I joined the US ARMY at age 19 after my first year of college was a platoon guide during the entire basic training period,” she explained. “I was deployed during my sophomore year and had to leave college for a year. Half of my reserves team went to Iraq, but I stayed stateside because we were responsible for drawing blood—I was a 92 Bravo, medical lab specialist,” she said with a smile.
Dr. King credits her time in the Army with cementing her access to medical school. Very few people had a military background, and she was published—being responsible for that level of organization and taking care of others made her an ideal candidate.
Once at Washington University, Dr. King was able to explore several paths for future physicians.
“They are so focused on exposing students to leadership, research, community engagement; there’s so much you have access to,” she said of her time in St. Louis.
During residency at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. King’s intern interview took her to a meeting with the chair of surgery.
“What do you want to do in the future?” she was asked. “I want your job,” she replied.
“After that, I never really thought about it again. I was focused on being an excellent resident, fellow, and attending,” she said. “I was so interested in so many things: education, leadership, and administration. But after some years, and my MBA, I fell in love with quality and administration in surgery.”
Four Credos
Dr. King became the head of quality for the Department of Surgery at Morehouse College and the chief of surgery and inaugural medical director for surgical quality at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
“At Grady, I was in a role where it was less specific, which meant I got to touch more of the things I love like education, research, and quality,” she said. Grady, a public and critical access hospital, serves some of Georgia’s most vulnerable patients and was an incredibly formative period in Dr. King’s journey.
“I have four credos,” she explained. “The patient comes first, be kind, have integrity, and, recently added, be fair. Putting yourself out there is the job. Patients feel unseen and uninvolved, and just knowing that, you can make a lot of strides to change the fear dynamic to one of empathy.”
Grady’s patient population allowed Dr. King, her staff, and her patients to look beyond their own limitations.
“People can be really limited in their experiences and don’t allow greatness to rise,” she said. “You need to learn how to see through biases and look at what people can offer. You want to drive great outcomes, and when you feel like you belong, you thrive. It goes both ways.”
While at Grady, Dr. King was tapped to interview for several leadership roles. She applied to three chair jobs and a president job, got offers on all, and chose Albany Medical Center. Dr. King knew her experience would help propel them forward.
“It means a lot to set up infrastructures that drive that connectedness from our providers to our patients. We speak to their vulnerability and guide and support them through their procedures,” she said.
Part of Dr. King’s vision is getting her teams to go from good to great, supported by the tenants of her four credos.
Community of Chairs
“When I became chair, there was no place for me to find that community. It didn’t exist,” she said. “I am the first Black female chair in the US of an academic center. But I never really felt intimidated, which helps.”
The richness of SSC means that there is a strong and engaged community of women chairs. By sharing an active email chain and going to meetings, there is a space to commiserate, bounce ideas and concepts off one another, and speak openly.
“I feel so supported at Albany Med—they see my vision. I can keep my focus where it should be and break through some barriers. At the same time, I can take my work with SSC and make real change,” she said.
During her term as SSC president, Dr. King has supported more high-level engagement from her fellow chairs by expanding the “So You Want to be a Chair?” program.
“We have longitudinal engagement: coaching and mock interviews, for example. We can help people who want these roles navigate the path to them,” she said.
She has driven an increase in coaching and information around alternative hiring models, non-traditional employees, and creating a safe space for chairs to have conversations around the difficulties regarding the recent pullback of research support and other crises.
Excellence comes in many forms, and Dr. King’s career is evidence that finding the humanity in every patient gets you far, and SSC’s work under her presidency will ensure a future with compassionate leaders who continue to deliver the highest quality of care and see the patient as a whole person.
