Message from the Chair

Kenneth A. Azarow, M.D., FACS, FAAP
Mackenzie Professor and Chair

Welcome to the OHSU Department of Surgery! We are proud of our rich history, robust educational programs and board-certified faculty who lead the field in advanced operative care. Please read on for a closer look at what makes our department so unique.

OHSU Medical School – dating back nearly 135 years

The University of Oregon was established in 1887 and is one of the oldest medical schools west of the Mississippi. We were part of the Oregon University system until 1995, when OHSU was born as a nonprofit public corporation. The new structure created an opportunity for OHSU to nimbly navigate a very competitive healthcare and research environment without wavering from our mission to serve the educational and clinical needs of Oregon. As a result, OHSU has been on a steady growth curve in research, education, and clinical care over the past two decades, a trend much admired in our community and across the country.

Surgery Innovation at OHSU

The leadership of our physicians and scientists can be captured in three words: imagination, excellence, and focus. As a result of this chemistry, many revolutionary advances in medicine and surgery have started at OHSU, including the first mechanical heart valve, the first percutaneous angioplasty and coronary arteriography with specialized catheters, the first balloon embolectomy catheter, the first kidney transplant in an adolescent, the first use of imatinib for myelocytic leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and the first totally endoscopic esophagogastric fundoplication. Many of these innovations commenced in the Department of Surgery. Keep reading

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