Mary D. Patterson, MD, MEd is a pediatric emergency physician and the Medical Director of the Akron Children’s Hospital Simulation Center for Safety and Reliability. Previously, she was the Medical Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Simulation and Research from 2002 to 2011. She is the past-president of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

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​Dr. Patterson completed pediatric residency training at Columbus Children’s Hospital and then served as a primary care physician in the United States Air Force. During her service in the Air Force, she developed an interest in trauma and pediatric resuscitation. Subsequently, she entered fellowship training in pediatric emergency medicine at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

 

Dr. Patterson has completed a Master’s in Education at the University of Cincinnati and a Patient Safety Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University. She served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Simulation in Healthcare from 2006-2011 and was the president of the Society in 2010. Dr. Patterson's primary research interests are related to the use of medical simulation to improve patient safety and human factors work related to patient safety. She is a federally funded investigator in these areas.