Albert Pacifico

Albert D. Pacifico (born c. 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is a cardiac surgeon who served on staff at UAB from his residency in 1967 until his retirement as vice chairman of the department of surgery on June 30, 2006.

Pacifico had decided he wanted to become a heart surgeon even as a child. He earned his degree at the New Jersey College of Medicine in Newark, New Jersey and did his internship there. He began his residency under John Kirklin at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and followed Kirklin to UAB in 1967. He became chief resident in 1969 and specialized in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in 1970, joining the faculty as an instructor the same year.

In 1978 Pacifico was invested as a professor of surgery. He was named the John W. Kirklin Professor of Surgery in 1983 and was made director of the division of cardiothoracic surgery in 1984. He also became chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Children's Hospital in 1986.

Throughout his career, Pacifico was renowned for his skill as well as his extraordinary efficiency, performing an average of 1,200 surgeries per year and an estimated 30,000 over his career. That total is more than seven times the average for heart surgeons. He credits having an efficient team as well as his own study of economical motion.

Pacifico and his wife, Vicky, have three children.

Preceded by: '

Director of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, UAB 1984-2006

Succeeded by: James Kirklin

References

• Stead, John (n.d.) "Albert Pacifico, M.D." Birmingham Post-Herald, republished by Josh Wakefield - accessed February 6, 2014
• "Prolific cardiac surgeon to retire." (November 22, 2005) Montgomery Advertiser