Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD

Physician Profile

Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD, FRCA, is chairman of the department of anesthesiology and pain management at Baylor University Medical Center, and president of Baylor Scott & White Research Institute. A native of Ireland, Dr. Ramsay was educated and spent the early part of his career in London before coming to Baylor University Medical Center in the mid-1970s.

Director of anesthesia for the liver transplant program, Dr. Ramsay has delivered anesthesia during more than 1,000 liver transplant surgeries. He is the developer of what he called the Controlled Sedation Scale, which was later named in his honor as the Ramsay Sedation Scale. Designed to measure and interpret the depth of sedation for patients in the critical care unit, this scale was one of the most commonly used measures of sedation around the world for decades.

Since joining Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, he has developed infrastructure to increase the number of active clinical trials from 250 to more than 2,000 today and has supported investigators in obtaining significant funding, including National Institutes of Health Grants. Currently, he is principal investigator of several trials.

Believing it is imperative for practicing physicians to share their experiences and findings, he has authored nearly 350 publications. Dr. Ramsay holds professorships at Texas A&M Health Science Center, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry.

A member and leader of numerous boards, both past and present, Dr. Ramsay is honored by his 20-plus year membership on the Baylor University Medical Center Board of Trustees as
its first physician member. His most recent appointment is to the Board of Trustees of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation as its chairman.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Physician, right from the get-go, which saved me some time. (He explained that in England where he went to school, if early on you are focused on one field, it speeds up the process of getting the degree(s) you want.)

What was your first job?

Hauling bricks in a wheelbarrow at a building site.

What did your parents do for work?

Mom was a radiographer, the equivalent of an X-ray tech today, and my dad was in business.

Why Baylor Scott & White?

Oh, so many reasons… mainly, I like that we lead—so much innovation and so many firsts, and we’ve got the right focus on patient safety—our Zero Harm campaign will make us the safest healthcare system.

What’s the longest surgery you’ve taken part in?

A hand re-implant that took about 20 hours. Unfortunately, that impacted my ability to qualify for the Boston Marathon when I was the fittest I’d ever been, as I was in the operating room until
9 a.m. when the marathon started. It was close by, so I did get underway 15 minutes late and finished in 3 hours, but my official time was 3 hours and 15 minutes, which meant I didn’t qualify. (Back then, runners all clocked the same start time.)

Tell me about your family.

My wife Zöe and I celebrated our 50th anniversary in late November 2019! We have four kids—all very close in age. When we moved to Texas from England, we had four kids under the age of four.

What do you hope people say about you behind your back?

That I’m honest and hardworking.

What’s your favorite movie?

The last movie I went to, which was Dr. Zhivago in 1965—[silence]—seriously, I can’t sit still to watch an entire movie, but I do see pieces of them on TV.

When is the last time you cried?

As chairman of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, there are many opportunities due to the moving stories I hear from loved ones about preventable deaths—and I’m motivated to do what I can, personally and professionally, to further our movement.

Sections of this profile were excerpted from an extended piece featured on Scrubbing. In; for the in-depth interview, visit BSWHealth.com/DrOfficeRamsay.