Mark Lockett, M.D., is an associate professor of surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina where he works in the Surgical Oncology Division. He is the vice chair of Veteran's Affairs, and serves as the chief of surgery at the Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs hospital.
His academic interest lies in improving the quality and safety of surgical care and addressing the surgical aspects of the opioid crisis. He is the principal investigator and surgeon lead for the South Carolina Surgical Quality Collaborative where he guides Continuous Quality Improvement work in eight hospitals across the state. He serves a similar role in the VA as the chief surgical consultant for Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 (Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina) where he provides guidance to seven surgical programs in the region.
He works with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on surgical projects and served as a member of the VA's General Surgery Advisory Board. His primary areas of surgical expertise include the management of breast cancer/breast diseases, general surgery, hernia repair, and minimally invasive surgery. He has multiple peer-reviewed publications in both surgical oncology and general surgery.
Dr. Lockett has a strong interest in: surgical education, surgical quality, safety, and value; continuous quality improvement; and, opioid use related to surgery. He served as the surgical residency program director at East Tennessee State University before joining MUSC and the VA. He is the recipient of multiple teaching awards and has been an invited speaker at regional and national meetings.
He is the Course Director for MUSCs Postgraduate Course in Surgery. He is a member of MUSC's Surgical Leadership Council, Quality Committee, Research Committee, Opioid Task Force, and is a board member for the Curtis P. Artz Surgical Society. Within the VA, Dr. Lockett chairs or participates in multiple local and regional committees, including: the Academic Partnership Council, Clinical Executive Board; National, VISN, and local surgical work groups;, as well as the Peer Review Committee, Invasive Procedures Committee, and the Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning work group.
