Professor of Surgery; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery

Section Chief, Surgical Critical Care; Medical Director, Surgical ICU; Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center

Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Kaplan is a general, trauma and critical care surgeon at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who serves as the Section Chief of Surgical Critical Care at the Corporal Michael J Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA.  He received a BA in Biology with honors from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA in 1984 and his MD from Rutgers Medical School in Piscataway, NJ in 1988.  Surgical residency was complete at the Medical College of PA (MCP; 1988-1995) with two years spent in basic research into cardiac bioenergetics and ischemic preconditioning (1991-1993).  Dr. Kaplan completed a Fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (1996-1997) and then joined the faculty at MCP and Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA where he directed the SICU and the Surgical Critical Care (SCC) fellowship.  Seven years later he was recruited to Yale University to establish an Emergency General Surgery service for the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care.  Having done so he then resumed leadership in the Yale-New Haven Hospital ICU and the SCC and Acute Care Surgery fellowships.  During that time, he also established Tactical Emergency Medical Services for a local and then regional SWAT group, South Central SWAT, including deploying in the field with that team.  Eleven years after moving to New Haven, he was recruited back to Philadelphia into his current roles including serving as the Interim Chief of Surgery at the VAMC (2014-2016).

Dr. Kaplan has served as the Program Director for Surgical Critical Care Fellowships in two systems (MCP, Yale) and as the SCCF site director at PENN.  Organizational service led him to the Presidency of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (2020-2021) – a career defining role – as it occurred during the pandemic and global recognition of the value of critical care medicine.  Leadership positions within other organizations (Surgical Infection Society, Surviving Sepsis Campaign) and service within others (AAST, EAST, AAS) characterize his career. Dr. Kaplan serves in several professional societies in leadership roles and on multiple editorial boards including Critical Care Medicine, Surgical Infections, Injury, and Orthoplastic Surgery; he reviews for a host of others while also serving as a Senior Associate Editor for Critical Care Explorations.  Dr. Kaplan was selected to receive his alma mater’s (Franklin and Marshall College) Distinguished Alumnus award in 2018, as well as similar recognition from his fellowship training program (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) in 2022. In 2025, he was awarded the title of Master of Critical Care Medicine from the Society for Critical Care Medicine and was inducted as a Fellow of the Surgical Infection Society.  Research interests include acid-base physiology, ARDS, emergency general surgery outcomes, transfusion practices, surgical infection management, resuscitation, and tactical emergency surgical services.