J. Douglas Kirk, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., F.A.C.C.
Chief Medical Officer
J. Douglas Kirk, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., F.A.C.C., is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of UC Davis Medical Center, a 646-bed acute-care teaching hospital in Sacramento, Calif. He has a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including leading and directing the professional portion of the medical center's clinical delivery system. He serves as liaison between the hospital, school of medicine and the self-governed medical staff, and is the medical center's senior officer for patient safety and quality.
Kirk's Division of Clinical Affairs includes the departments of Quality and Safety, Clinical Informatics, and Medical Staff Administration, which includes oversight of the medical center's licensure and accreditation functions. He is the senior officer in charge of funds-flow management between the hospital and school of medicine to support professional services, including call coverage, medical directorships and clinical program support. Kirk represents the medical center on UC Health's system-wide panel of CMOs addressing quality and operational improvement.
After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky, Kirk earned his Doctorate of Medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine and completed internship and residency training at UC Davis Medical Center. He is board-certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and joined the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine in 1991, where he was the Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and the founder and Medical Director of the Chest Pain Evaluation Unit. He served as both Chief of Staff and Associate Chief Medical Officer at UC Davis Medical Center before assuming his current role.
An accomplished physician scientist, Dr. Kirk has been an investigator for numerous clinical trials and has authored more than 170 journal articles, book chapters and abstracts on emergency cardiovascular care. A fellow of both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Cardiology, he is the past president of the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care and the inaugural and current Chair of the Accreditation Foundation Board of the American College of Cardiology.