Dr. Christopher Cannell is a doctoral-trained Physician Associate with over 22 years of multidisciplinary clinical experience in Emergency Medicine (CAQ-EM), Orthopedics, Critical Care, and Internal Medicine. He is nationally recognized for his leadership and expertise in healthcare quality, patient safety, and risk mitigation.  He is a frequent invited speaker on Provider Clinical Risk Management and a blogger for medical liability companies on these critical topics.

Dr. Cannell is a successful entrepreneur leading a six-figure consulting firm where he also trains and encourages other healthcare provider entrepreneurs to explore their passions, niches, and grow their own business.

Dr. Cannell has held key leadership positions including current President of PAs in Legal Medicine, Board of Directors for the Academy of Doctoral PAs and previously with Massachusetts Association of PAs, and Board Advisor for the SCUHS Doctor of Medical Science program. He has led clinical teams as an APC Director, Department Lead, healthcare system, program manager and thought leader and Chair of APC career letter committee, driving innovation in quality improvement, documentation, onboarding, population management, operations, and value-based care initiatives across health systems.  Created POCUS acute care program for PAs and NPs at the largest community hospital in Massachusetts in alignment with the department ultrasound director. 

Dr. Cannell is an experienced medical professional legal consultant (MPLC) and expert witness, certified through Auburn University and The Center for Legal Studies. He has over 8 years of experience providing expert witness and consulting services focused on clinical risk assessment, discovery, and standard of care.  His collaborative consulting work spans clinicians, legal teams, malpractice insurance consultants, executives, AI technology, and life sciences organizations.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Cannell serves as Assistant Professor Doctor of Medical Science Program at The University of Lynchburg, current adjunct faculty for the Doctor of Medical Science Program at Marshall B. Ketchum University and also previously with South College (Healthcare Law & Policy), and currently for Northeastern University School of Medical Sciences PA Program, and the Tufts School of Medicine PA Program. He is a subject matter expert in generative AI development, educational consulting for early career and transitional career NPs and PA’s, and interprofessional collaboration to advance the Quadruple Aim.

Dr. Cannell completed leadership training in Just Culture, High Reliability, as well as patient safety through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He earned his DMSc from the University of Lynchburg, MPAS from MCPHS–Boston, and BA in Pre-Medical Studies and Psychology from Muhlenberg College. He has done additional leadership training from AAPA from The Center for Healthcare Leadership and Management.

I consider myself lucky to do something that I love. Children and teens are great at reminding adults about the little joys of life while also presenting us with various medical and behavioral challenges. I enjoy navigating these challenges with each family to find the right approach for their child. Outside of work, I love spending time with my husband and three (lovable and challenging) children. I enjoy running with my dog, biking, swimming, skiing, and occasionally a good day of yard work. 

I grew up in a small town in Northern New York, and joined South Shore Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2012. I completed my undergraduate and medical education as well as my general surgical training and surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. I am also fellowship trained in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. I have had a long-standing passion in bariatric and weight-loss surgery and my goal in joining the South Shore Hospital team was to bring that expertise and opportunity to the South Shore community. The hospital has been very supportive in this endeavor and over the past few years we have created a collaborative team of providers from across institutions to start the South Shore Hospital Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. As medical director it has been my pleasure to help the program grow into a strong clinical component  of the department of surgery and create more outreach into the community. I am also actively engaged as a trauma surgeon and have a busy general surgery practice taking care of a variety of disease processes including the minimally invasive management of gallbladder disease, hernia, GERD, hiatal hernias, as well as the surgical management of a variety of other gastrointestinal disorders. When I am not working, I enjoy the simple things in life like relaxing by a large campfire or spending the day at the beach with my family.