Cherr, Orrange Appointed to GME Leadership Roles

“Dr. Cherr and Dr. Orrange share an interest in faculty development and education research,” said Roseanne C. Berger, MD, senior associate dean for GME, in making the announcement along with Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health services and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

“I look forward to working with them in enriching the quality of the GME experience for residents and fellows in Western New York,” Berger said. 

Cherr, an associate professor of surgery, has been named assistant dean for graduate medical education. He will oversee the clinical learning environment for residents and fellows at Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC), including their integration into quality improvement, patient safety, addressing health disparities and completing regulatory requirements. 

“Dr. Cherr’s experience as a clinician educator based at our major teaching institution, BGMC, will facilitate engaging residents in that hospital’s efforts to improve quality and patient satisfaction,” Berger said.  

He will also act as vice chair of the Duty Hour and Fatigue Management Subcommittee, serve on UB’s Graduate Medical Education Committee and continue as core faculty for the UB Royal College of Physicians Educator Program.

Cherr joined the UB faculty in 2002 after graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine; completing an internship at New England Medical Center; a general surgery and vascular surgery fellowship at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center; and a postdoctoral fellowship in the pathobiology of vascular disease.  

He most recently served as general surgery residency program director from 2012 to 2015. He was one of six medical educators nationwide to receive an Arnold P. Gold Foundation scholarship in 2011 to attend the prestigious Harvard Macy Institute. As a result, he developed innovative, interdisciplinary leadership and teamwork simulation scenarios to enhance surgical training utilizing the Behling Simulation Center.

Cherr is a member of the Gold Humanism Society and a 2008 recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. He will continue to practice vascular surgery with UBMD.

He will also pursue his passion of promoting bicycling on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus by launching initiatives targeting the GME community.

Orrange, who joined GME in 1997, has been appointed assistant dean for education and resident services. She holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Family Medicine and is a faculty member in the UB Royal College of Physicians’ Clinical Educator Program. 

She is the faculty adviser for UB’s Residents’ Committee and also guides residents and faculty in her role as GME ombudsman.

“Dr. Orrange has really had a very central role in supporting residents and fellows, and in her role as ombudsman she has helped guide them through a number of difficult situations, academically or personally,” Berger said.

“She also helped develop and was primarily responsible for implementing a new approach to directing residents with academic difficulties that put a focus on techniques for improvement as opposed to a more punitive approach, so I think philosophically it is a very important change in the GME office,” she said.

Orrange earned both her master’s in higher education and doctoral degrees at the UB Graduate School of Education. Her dissertation was on engagement and burnout in medical residents. 

“Her expertise in qualitative methods and resident engagement and burnout aligns with the national focus on physician burnout,” Berger said. 

Orrange’s focus on burnout and engagement was also instrumental in GME revamping the orientation for its new residents and the introduction of the first ‘long’ white coat ceremony for residents, according to Berger.

First-year medical students are traditionally presented short white coats during a ceremony symbolizing the start of their journey to becoming doctors.

In 2015, GME instituted a ‘long’ white coat ceremony when residents arrived for orientation.

“It symbolizes the transition from medical student to resident and re-emphasizes the values of professionalism, altruism and the commitment residents have to their patients,” Berger said. “It aligns perfectly with the message and the culture we want to emphasize here at UB.”

Orrange organizes and is the seminar leader for the Generalist Scholars Program for talented UB students entering primary care specialties, and she provides faculty development on session planning, critical refection, feedback and unconscious bias.

“She is one of the primary people in the office who identifies areas for faculty development of our residency program directors. She organizes as well as participates in those faculty development programs,” Berger said.

Her GME responsibilities also include overseeing the annual Scholarly Exchange Day research poster session, GME Quality Improvement Awards, education related to new resident orientation and chief resident orientation.