L. Michael Brunt, MD
L. Michael Brunt, M.D., is professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery’s Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery and is a recognized leader and clinical expert in laparoscopic, endocrine and hernia surgery.
Brunt received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 1976 and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1980. He then trained in general surgery at Washington University and held a two-year postgraduate research fellowship in immunology within the Department of Pathology. He started clinical practice on the faculty in 1990 and achieved the rank of professor in 2006.
Brunt was one of the first Washington University physicians to fully adopt laparoscopic surgery and is internationally recognized for his work in laparoscopic adrenalectomy. He is Team Surgeon for the St. Louis Blues and has a nationwide referral practice for collegiate and professional athletes with sports hernias. Since 2002, he has directed the Department of Surgery’s Annual Refresher Course in General Surgery. He has been listed in Best Doctors in America® from 1996 through 2008 and has been the referral surgeon for numerous faculty, fellow surgeons and their families.
Brunt has been a leader in the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons’ (SAGES) effort to educate surgeons worldwide in minimally invasive surgery, and developed a comprehensive video teaching series in the field. He is on the Board of Governors of SAGES and is program director for the 2009 SAGES annual meeting.
He has published more than 130 scientific articles, chapters, and movies, and is on the editorial board of Surgical Endoscopy. A gifted professor, Brunt was voted Clinical Teacher of the Year by the medical students five times between 2000 and 2006. In 2002, he received the School of Medicine’s Samuel Goldstein Leadership Award in Medical Student Education. In 2006, he implemented a skills course for senior students entering surgical internship, a popular annual course that has gained national recognition.