Paula Ferrada

In 1994, Paula was awarded the title of Miss Belleza Juvenil a beauty pageant in Colombia, and became the hostess of a local TV show called Super Bien. After acting in numerous episodes in the Colombian comedy O todos en la cama,[1] Paula began a modeling career, appearing in more than 50 television commercials.

After a short modeling career, she dedicated her life to medicine and surgery. She finished medical school in Cali, Colombia, and arrived in the United States to pursue further training. After a year of research at the University of Miami,[2] Ferrada joined Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the major Harvard teaching hospitals for surgical residency. She was the first Colombian woman to graduate from a surgical specialty from Harvard.[3]

Dr. Ferrada trained for one more year in Trauma and Critical care at the University of Pittsburgh,[4] and then joined the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center [5] as their first Acute Care Surgery Fellow. She joined Virginia Commonwealth University as faculty in the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services.[6]

She has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards from Harvard Medical Students, and at her current institution. Dr. Ferrada has directed multiple ultrasound courses for residents, and has trained multiple surgeons in the use of bedside ultrasound. She is well-versed in echocardiography and its use in fluid status management as a result of her training at the Trauma Echocardiography service at Shock Trauma.

While still a resident, Dr Ferrada became an American College of Surgeons Ultrasound Instructor and in 2007 began teaching her first ultrasound course to residents. Since then she has dedicated her efforts to becoming an expert in critical care, trauma and emergency surgery as well as image based resuscitation of the trauma patient using echocardiogram. She has held multiple leadership roles in this organization and several others locally, nationally and internationally. Ferrada is a member of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST). Through this organization, Paula began dedicating her career toward mentoring young surgeons as the new Division Chair of Member Services. [7]

She is currently the Director for the Surgical and Trauma ICU at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, and MCV Physicians, and Professor of Surgery at VCU School of Medicine, Division of Acute Care Surgical Services.[8] In addition, Dr. Ferrada is the Program Director of Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at VCU Medical Center. She is also very active in global surgery education through her membership in the Panamerican Trauma Society and with teaching ultrasound courses in Latin American countries. In addition to her academic and clinical work, Dr. Ferrada has been awarded multiple grants providing support for her research in trauma resuscitation, including but not limited to, surgeon-performed ultrasound. In addition, Dr. Ferrada has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.