Adam B. Smith - Orel F. Martin Medal
The American College of Osteopathic Surgeons and its officers, governors, and members honor Adam Smith with the College’s highest award—the Orel F. Martin Medal—as a symbol of his outstanding career as an osteopathic surgeon, educator, and leader.
Dr. Smith is a 1988 graduate of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa, where he served as president of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association and was a member of the Atlas Osteopathic Fraternity. He completed a rotating internship at Tulsa Regional Medical Center, where he had the opportunity to meet Walter Wilson, D.O., FACOS, and Keith Watson, D.O., FACOS, as well as other distinguished ACOS members who inspired him to support osteopathic medicine and to pursue a career in surgery. It was at Tulsa Regional Medical Center that he also met his lifelong friend and colleague Albert H. Olivencia-Yurvati, D.O., FACOS, who is the recipient of the first ACOS Guy Beaumont Award of Academic Excellence.
During his residency training at the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas/UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Dr. Smith had the opportunity to be mentored and trained by outstanding leaders of the ACOS including former Governors W. R. Jenkins, D.O., and Don N. Peska, D.O., FACOS. Drs. Jenkins and Peska, both recipients of the ACOS Distinguished Osteopathic Surgeon Award, taught Dr. Smith that it is an honor and a privilege to give back through service to the organization that makes it possible for a surgeon to practice his or her craft. Perhaps most influential during his formative training years was Sam W. Buchanan, D.O., FACOS, who mentored him in the pursuit of innovative training and surgical excellence. Dr. Smith also has excelled in his career because of training from William Wallace, D.O.; David A. Stone, D.O., FACOS; Terry Wilson, D.O.; and Robert B. McFaul, D.O., FACOS. Dr. Smith believes that these experiences shaped his lifetime commitment to innovation, excellence, teaching, and service.
After practicing general surgery in Oklahoma City for two years, Dr. Smith joined the faculty at the UNT Health Science Center where he focused his practice on minimally invasive surgery and frequently was the first north Texas surgeon to perform advanced laparoscopic procedures.
Pursuing his passion for teaching, he served as residency trainer and residency director at the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas and as inaugural program director at Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth/UNT. He also served as chair of the credentials committee and on the institutional review board at UNT, and on the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas foundation board. Several of his residents have been named recipients of the ACOS Resident Achievement Award and the Robert C. Erwin Literary Award.
As a faculty member and later in private practice, he partnered with UNT faculty to publish numerous scientific papers on a variety of topics—most often on weight loss surgery, with an emphasis on the behavioral and biochemical responses following bariatric surgery. Beginning in 2001, he focused primarily on bariatric surgery and became a pioneer in the LAP-BAND laparoscopic adjustable gastric band. He has trained surgeons throughout the southwest United States in the LAP-BAND procedure and has lectured on the topic throughout the United States as well as in France, Germany, Argentina, and Mexico. He served for 10 years on the Council for Advances in Bariatrics to promote access to bariatric care, and he was an advocate for the Obesity Action Coalition to urge members of Congress to advocate on behalf of obese patients.
Dr. Smith left academics in 2004 to pursue private practice. He is president of Ultimate Bariatrics in Fort Worth, where he continues to practice and has performed more than 7,000 bariatric surgeries.
He began his service to the osteopathic profession locally as an officer and president of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association’s District II, as a delegate to the Texas House of Representatives, and as alternate delegate to the American Osteopathic Association House of Delegates. He also has served on multiple task forces on graduate medical education. He currently is a member of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association Board of Trustees.
An active member of the ACOS, Dr. Smith is chair of the College’s Bylaws Committee and a member of the Strategic Planning and Ethics committees. Past chair of the General Surgery In-service Examination Committee, he led committee efforts to grow the exam’s test bank and to recruit new members who could contribute to the exam’s validity and consistency. As ACOS governor, he served on numerous committees and task forces including the Strategic Planning Committee, the Scenario Analysis Task Force, and the Search Committee for the College’s new executive director. During his service as ACOS secretary-treasurer, president-elect, and president, he provided leadership in the early period leading to the transition of AOA residency programs to ACGME accreditation to preserve the uniqueness of osteopathic surgical training. He also served on the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery as an examiner and a board member, and as a residency inspector to help maintain the quality of osteopathic residency programs.
The ACOS is grateful to Dr. Smith for his service to the College, and for his lifelong commitment to osteopathic medicine and surgery.