Alice Coombs, M.D.
Department Chair, Professor
Undergraduate: B.S. Biology (University of Southern California)
Graduate: M.D. (University of Los Angeles, School of Medicine)
Residency: Internal Medicine, Internship & Residency (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
Residency: Anesthesiology (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
Fellowship: Critical Care Medicine (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
Fellowship: Cardiothoracic Anesthesia (New England Center Tufts University)
Department: Department of Anesthesiology
Email: alice.coombs@vcuhealth.org
Dr. Alice Coombs is a distinguished physician-leader with more than 35 years of experience in clinical practice, academic medicine, and health-care policy. She currently serves as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine and is Associate Professor.
Dr. Coombs holds an M.D. from the UCLA School of Medicine, following a B.S. in Biology from the University of Southern California. She completed residencies in internal medicine and anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and fellowships in critical‐care medicine (MGH) and cardiothoracic anesthesia (Tufts).
Throughout her career, Dr. Coombs has been committed to advancing patient care through both direct clinical service and systems-level advocacy. Early on, she recognized disparities in health access and outcomes while training in underserved settings and has since made equity, physician-wellness, and policy reform key priorities of her leadership.
In 2023, Dr. Coombs achieved a major milestone when she was installed as President of the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV), becoming the first Black woman and fourth female physician to serve in that role in the organization’s more than 200-year history. She also holds the distinction of being the first person ever to serve as president of two state medical societies, having previously served as President of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Under her MSV presidency, Dr. Coombs is focusing on initiatives including physician and physician assistant mental health and wellness, health-care payment reform, and supporting legislative advocacy to strengthen the physician-patient relationship across Virginia.
An advocate for mentorship and leadership development in medicine, Dr. Coombs continues to merge patient-centered clinical practice with system-wide reform, driven by the belief that every physician is “the voice of the patients” they serve.
- Undergraduate: B.S. Biology (University of Southern California)
- Graduate: M.D. (University of Los Angeles, School of Medicine)
- Residency: Internal Medicine, Internship & Residency (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
- Residency: Anesthesiology (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
- Fellowship: Critical Care Medicine (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University)
- Fellowship: Cardiothoracic Anesthesia (New England Center Tufts University)