This interview is one in a series of interviews with recipients of the 2026 ACGME Awards. The awardees join an outstanding group of previous honorees whose work and contributions to graduate medical education (GME) represent the best in the field. They will be honored at the upcoming ACGME Annual Educational Conference, taking place February 19-21 in San Diego, California.
2026 Lewis Blackman Patient Safety Award winner Michael Kochis, MD, EdM is a general surgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Kochis will receive the award on behalf of a team that included Suzanne Algeri, DNP, RN, MS; Rajshri Gartland, MD, MPH; Lynze Franko, MD; Alison Parmar, JD, MBE; Kathleen Swierzerwski, RN.
ACGME: Why did you want to become a physician?
Dr. Kochis: Becoming a physician combined my interest in understanding the workings of the human body with my desire to help others. As I progressed in my education and training, I came to see how physicians are suited to not just provide care for our immediate patients, but also to impact patient care more broadly by getting involved in medical education and quality improvement initiatives.
ACGME: What, so far, has been the most rewarding part of your residency/fellowship?
Kochis: Without a doubt, it is being able to make immediate and drastic improvements in patients’ lives. It is also a privilege to help them and their families navigate life-changing experiences pre- and post-operatively.
ACGME: What has been the most challenging?
Kochis: Surgical training demands long hours, and we’re constantly dealing with high acuity and unpredictability. We are developing not only our technical skills but also our judgment and teamwork.
ACGME: What innovation or improvement did you implement in your program, and how do you see it as improving patient safety in your program and/or institution overall?
Kochis: At our hospital, paging is the primary means by which nurses communicate with residents and advanced practice providers. We designed and implemented a set of guidelines for classifying page urgency and escalating clinical concerns. They provided a shared mental model between page senders and receivers, clarifying what sort of response is expected for a given page, and what to do next if that response is not provided. The guidelines improved patient safety by streamlining communication and decreasing the barriers to contact other team members if needed.
ACGME: What does it mean to you to receive this award?
Kochis: This award emphasizes that residents can and should be key contributors to quality improvement projects that relate to their day-to-day work. My project reinforces the importance of collaboration between residents and nurses, especially when the overarching goal is patient safety.
ACGME: What advice would you give to other residents and fellows who are looking to either replicate your improvement or implement an original idea of their own in their own program?
Kochis: It is essential to engage all relevant stakeholders and ensure that their concerns are being met. Oftentimes, you will learn things from other role groups that you would have never anticipated from your own perspective.
ACGME: Is there anything else you would like to add I haven’t asked about?
Kochis: I have the utmost respect and admiration for the Blackman family, who turned their personal tragedy into advocacy to help prevent future harms. As an aspiring pediatric surgeon and surgical educator, I will strive to honor Lewis’ legacy.
Learn more about the ACGME’s Lewis Blackman Patient Safety Award here.