Christopher Kiefer, MD, MSEd, FACEP

Professor, Vice Chair of Education, Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, Director of Faculty Development, WVU Health Sciences

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Emergency Medicine

Classification:

Staff

Academic Rank and Title: Professor of Emergency Medicine, Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, Vice Chair of Education, Department of Emergency Medicine
Undergraduate: Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Medical School: West Virginia University School of Medicine
Graduate/Advanced degrees: MSEd, University of Pennsylvania
Residency: Mayo Clinic, Emergency Medicine
Fellowship: ACEP Teaching Fellowship
Board Certification:  Board Certified, American Board of Emergency Medicine
Professional Societies/Leadership positions: ACEP, SAEM, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs, AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs
Awards/Honors: 
Alpha Omega Alpha
Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, WVU DEM 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15
Cornerstone of Recovery Award, WVU Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center 2014
Bravo! Award for outstanding patient care, WVU Medicine 2015
West Virginia University HSC Academy of Excellence in Teaching and Learning, inducted 2015

Representative publications

Kiefer CS, Colletti JE, Bellolio MF et al.  “The “good” dean’s letter”.  Academic Medicine. 2010; 85: 1705-1708. PMID: 20881821

Kiefer CS, Turner JS, Layman SM, et al. “Introducing medical students into the Emergency Department: The impact upon patient satisfaction”.  Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2015; 16 (6): 894-898. PMID: 26594286

Hansroth JA, Davis KH, Quedado KD, Davis SM, Kiefer AS, Shaver EB, Kiefer CS, Cottrell S, Ferrari ND. “Lower-Third SLOE Rankings Impede, But Do Not Prevent, A Match in Emergency Medicine Residency Training”. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development. 2020; 7: Jan-Dec. PMID:  33415307

Thimm T, Kiefer CS, Aloi MS, Davenport M, Kilpatrick J, Bush JS, Jennings L, Davis SM, Quedado K, Shaver EB. “Does the medical student performance evaluation change the decision to invite residency applicants?” Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2021; 22(5)1102-1109.  PMID: 34546886

Shaver EB, Frauen HD, Polinski RZ, Davis SM, Quedado KD, Hansroth J, Davis KH, Angeline MR, Kiefer CS. “Lower-Third Standardized Letters of Evaluation in Emergency Medicine: Does Gender Make a Difference in Match Outcome?” Cureus. 2021; 13: e19507. PMID: 34912644

Professional interests: medical education, simulation, curriculum development, teaching medical students and residents clinical decision making
Personal interests: Baseball, WVU sports, hiking, spending time with my family

Dr. Christopher Kiefer is a West Virginia native, originally from Weirton, West Virginia.  He attended the WVU School of Medicine, graduating in 2007, and traded the hills of West Virginia for the frozen tundra of Rochester, Minnesota, completing residency at the Mayo Clinic in 2010, serving as chief resident during his final year.  During residency, he was inspired by his attendings and mentors to pursue an academic career with a focus upon bedside teaching, curriculum development, and simulation.   

After residency, he was an attending at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis where he helped launch a new clinical site for the required fourth year Emergency Medicine Clerkship at Indiana University.  In late 2012, attracted by the complex patients, family like atmosphere of the Department, and the draw of his beloved Mountaineers, he chose to return to West Virginia University where he became involved in the residency leadership, first as an Assistant Program Director from 2012-2014, as the Associate Program Director from 2014-2025, and currently serves as the Residency Program Director.  He worked with his colleague, Dr. Erica Shaver, to develop the formal Division of Education and Academic Affairs in 2020, serving first as its Division Chief from 2020-2025 and currently serves as the Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine.   

His focus academically is to constantly strive to make the WVU EM Residency the best it can possibly be—ensuring a psychologically safe, innovative, active learning curriculum, strong simulation opportunities, and helping to support the residents professionally, preparing them to be ready to practice in any setting they choose following graduation. 

Beyond the residency program, he has focused on developing a career as a clinician educator that spans both undergraduate and graduate medical education as well as a focus on faculty development.  He enjoys supporting faculty in their roles  as they progress through the promotion and tenure processes and learn to be the best teachers they can possibly be.  He also currently serves as the Director of Faculty Development for WVU Health Sciences (support for the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing, and Public Health) as well as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee for the WVU School of Medicine.   Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with and traveling with his family—his wife Autumn is the Division Chief for Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine at WVU and together they are raising their triplets who keep them incredibly busy (in a fun way) at essentially all times.

Medical Specialties

• Emergency Medicine