Paula Ferrada, MD, FACS, FCCM, MAMSE, is a board-certified surgeon, mentor and educator with more than a decade of experience. She joined Inova in 2021 and is the Division Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 

In addition to her leadership roles. Dr. Paula Ferrada is also the Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Dr. Ferrada has enhanced the educational curriculum, restructured some of the rotations and increased the faculty development opportunities.

Prior to joining Inova, Dr. Ferrada was a Professor of Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and served as the Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and Medical Director of the Surgical and Trauma Intensive Care Unit at VCU Health Systems and the Medical College of Virginia Physicians.

Dr. Ferrada completed her medical education in Colombia, her native country, before relocating to the United States to pursue further training. After a year of research at the University of Miami, Dr. Ferrada joined Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the major Harvard teaching hospitals for surgical residency. She was the first Colombian woman to graduate from a surgical subspecialty at Harvard. Dr. Ferrada continued her training in trauma and critical care at the University of Pittsburgh before joining the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center as their first acute care surgery fellow. 

Dr. Ferrada’s passion for educating and mentoring young surgeons began in residency when she became an ultrasound instructor with the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Since then, she has been honored with multiple teaching awards from various institutions and appointed to leadership roles within the ACS, the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Virginia chapter of the Association for Women Surgeons and the Pan-American Trauma Society. Dr. Ferrada is an internationally recognized advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion and an esteemed researcher. She has been published in more than peer-reviewed journals.

Memberships/Accreditations

• American Association for the Surgery of Trauma 
• Association of Women Surgeons, Virginia Chapter 
• American College of Surgeons 
• Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma

Research and Publications

View list of publications from Dr. Ferrada's research