Biography Summary Shannon Marie Foster MD FACS
Executive Committee Board of Governors
Communications Pillar Lead and Integrated Communications Liaison
Shannon Marie Foster is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Penn State College of Medicine and staff physician at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in the Division of Trauma, Acute Care and Critical Care Surgery, Department of Surgery. She also acts as adjunct teaching faculty for the Department of Surgery of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and provides clinical and consultative support to several other growing trauma centers and systems. Dr. Foster is the Director and Executive of SMF Coverage & Solutions, Professional LLC, a referral-only company focusing on expert and quality review, professional development, and procedural and policy growth.
SM Foster is originally from Akron Ohio and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Akron. She remained in Ohio to pursue her medical degree at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. Relocation to Rochester, Minnesota allowed completion of both General Surgery Residency and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Whilst at Mayo, administrative and leadership opportunities, along with community outreach and advocacy became a focus of her training and extra clinical efforts which continue to this day. Dr. Foster worked at Reading Hospital Trauma Center via the University of Pennsylvania from 2009-2020. Integral to the development of the Acute Care Surgery line, the safety-net community clinic and the evolution to a Level 1 ACS verified Trauma Center, she led trauma clinical services and performance improvement initiatives, as well as, holding a number of hospital and system-based leadership positions throughout those years. By 2020, opportunities to pursue independent work in the realm of external quality consulting, legal review, peer review services, and professional development prompted transition and creation of an independent consulting company. She remains an awarded and avid teacher, mentor, and advocate.
Dr. Foster is actively engaged in national professional organizations to advance the field. She holds national positions in multiple societies but is most heavily committed to the goals of the American College of Surgeons – both locally as Past-President of the Keystone Chapter and nationally as an elected Governor-At-Large for the state of Pennsylvania - acting as executive for the Communications Pillar and liaison and editorial member to multiple ACS Committees and publications. Dr. Foster focuses on the development of stewardship opportunities and is dedicated to furthering the voice and needs of both surgeons and patients. Current positions with the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Association of Women Surgeons, and several other organizations align with and further these efforts and collaborations.
