Jacqueline Wu, MD - Brightwood House Mentor

Dr. Wu is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. She grew up in Framingham, MA and completed her undergraduate studies at MIT. She then earned her MD from the UMass Chan Medical School and continued on there for internship and residency. Following residency Dr. Wu completed a fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. After fellowship she joined the faculty at Berkshire Medical Center, a UMass Chan affiliate, and quickly became the Associate Program Director for the General Surgery Residency program. At Berkshire Medical Center Dr. Wu revamped the Basic Science curriculum for the general surgery residents and as the medical director of the simulation center, helped to grow and improve the simulation curriculum and grow the facility. In 2015, Dr. Wu joined the faculty at Baystate Medical Center as the Assistant Clerkship Director for Surgery.

Dr. Wu has a passion for clinical teaching at all levels. She has attended numerous teaching and faculty development courses to hone her teaching skills. Dr. Wu’s clinical interests are in complex hernia repair and she typically gets referrals for hernias that no one else is willing to fix. She is also interested in clinical outcomes research, particularly in the elderly surgical population. She has mentored many residents in their research endeavors. Dr. Wu is also active in the development of surgical residents into effective clinical educators through simulation and objective structured teaching examinations (OSTE). In addition, Dr. Wu is very active in the MA chapter of the American College of Surgeons (Council Member) as well as the MA chapter of the Association of Women Surgeons (founding member and VP).

As much as she loves surgery and clinical teaching, Dr. Wu’s greatest passion is spending time with her family. She lives in Longmeadow with her husband Sean, her daughter Mikaela and her son Callaghan. They have two dogs, Finnegan and Tory, and a cat, Momo. When not working or transporting her kids to their numerous activities, Dr. Wu enjoys reading, cooking and taking her dogs for long walks. One of Dr. Wu’s goals is to dispel the myth that a good work-life balance cannot exist for surgeons.