About Dr. Dennis Kim
Trauma surgeon. Intensivist. Medical educator.
I’m Dennis Kim, a trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist based in Victoria, British Columbia.
My work sits at the intersection of trauma surgery, critical care, clinical education, and healthcare leadership.
I created Trauma ICU Rounds to make complex concepts in trauma and critical care clearer, more practical, and more useful at the bedside.
My Background
I attended medical school at McMaster University before completing general surgery residency and advanced fellowship training in critical care, trauma, and surgical critical care in Canada and the United States. I later completed a Master’s in Medical Education at the University of Dundee.
My career has included clinical and academic work at major trauma centres including UC San Diego and Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, before returning to Canada.
Today, I practise in Victoria, British Columbia, where my work spans trauma surgery, surgical critical care, medical education, and surgical leadership.
I ‘m a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of British Columbia and have held senior leadership roles in trauma and surgical services within Island Health.
Throughout that career, one thing has remained constant: I enjoy teaching the physiology and decision-making behind the care of critically ill and injured patients.
What I Do
TRAUMA & RESUSCITATION
Resuscitation, hemorrhage control, thoracic trauma, damage-control strategies, and the early management of critically injured patients.
SURGICAL CRITICAL CARE
Shock, mechanical ventilation, organ support, sepsis, resuscitation physiology, and complex surgical ICU care.
EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP
Clinical reasoning, medical education, trauma systems, quality improvement, and the design of surgical systems that deliver better care.
How I Teach
I believe the best clinical education starts with understanding why.
Rather than memorizing isolated protocols, I build teaching around physiology, pattern recognition, clinical frameworks, and the decisions that change patient care.
That means starting with first principles, challenging dogma when the evidence changes, and translating the literature into something you can actually use on rounds, in the trauma bay, or at 3 a.m. in the ICU.
Understand the physiology.
Build a framework.
Make the decision.
TRAUMA ICU ROUNDS
Trauma ICU Rounds began as a podcast and is evolving into a broader educational resource for clinicians caring for criticallyill and injured patients.
Practical, evidence-informed education built around physiology, clinical reasoning, and bedside decision-making.
PODCAST
Focused…
YOUTUBE
Visual…
CLINICAL REVIEWS
Concise…
FRAMEWORKS & ALGORITHMS
Clinical…
Academic & Professional Profile
My academic and professional work spans trauma surgery, surgical critical care, medical education, healthcare leadership, and trauma systems.
ACADEMIC
Clinical Professor of Surgery
University of British Columbia
CLINICAL
Trauma Surgery & Surgical Critical Care
Victoria, British Columbi
LEADERSHIP
Senior surgical and trauma leadership
Island Health