Rate My Professor Christopher Arndt

Christopher Arndt, MD, MBA, serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He assumed the role of regular Chair in June 2021, after serving as Interim Chair from September 2020 to May 2021. Prior to this, he was Associate Chair of the department and the founding director of UNM's Acute Pain and Regional Anesthesia Fellowship. Dr. Arndt holds multiple leadership positions, including service on the Board of Directors and Finance Board of the UNM Medical Group, where he was named Interim President and CEO in March 2025. He has also served as Vice Chair for Quality and Compliance, Medical Director of the UNM Outpatient Surgery Center, co-chair of the LoboWings Surgical Services Safety Committee, and Director of the Inpatient Acute Pain Service. Additionally, he participates in UNM faculty governance committees.

Dr. Arndt earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado through the Navy ROTC program and served as a U.S. Navy officer aboard the USS Berkeley and USS Callaghan prior to medical school. He received his MD from the UNM School of Medicine in 2002 and completed his anesthesiology residency at UNM in 2006. He completed the School of Medicine Medical Leadership Academy in 2014 and an MBA from Brandeis University. His clinical and scholarly interests include regional and acute pain management and ambulatory anesthesia. Notable contributions to the literature encompass the presentation "Abdominal wall blocks" at the 2013 UNM Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia Symposium and Workshop, and co-authorship of "Successful Administration of Preoperative Botox for Giant Omphalocele Repair With Ultrasound Guidance" published in 2023. Dr. Arndt has been named a Top Anesthesiologist by Albuquerque The Magazine in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025, reflecting his impact on clinical practice and education in New Mexico.