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Headshot of Ninh Nguyen.

Welcome to UC Irvine’s Department of Surgery! Our department comprises a cohesive, multispecialty group of faculty who are highly skilled surgeons and educators.

The department is organized into the following divisions:

  • Cardiac Surgery
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Colon and Rectal Surgery
  • Gastrointestinal Surgery (including foregut and bariatric surgery)
  • Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery
  • Surgical Oncology (including the Breast Health Center)
  • Transplant Surgery
  • Emergency General Surgery
  • Trauma, Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery
  • Vascular Surgery

Our primary goal is to train the next generation of exemplary surgeons by providing the highest quality surgical education to our medical students, surgical residents, fellows and community surgeons. 

The UC Irvine Medical Center is designated by the American College of Surgeons as a Level I Trauma Center and by the American Burn Association as a verified Burn Center. The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute and, together with the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, integrates and coordinates clinical care, education and research.

As Orange County's only academic medical center and one of California's largest teaching hospitals, UC Irvine continues to be on the forefront of innovation. Our award-winning faculty consists of surgeons who are repeatedly listed in Best Doctors in America, Guide to America's Top Surgeons and Consumer's Guide to Top Doctors. Due to its many distinctions, the UC Irvine Medical Center serves as a referral center for the community to care for patients with complex conditions. These are ideal conditions to offer our learners a breadth of educational opportunities in state-of-the-art care facilities with a diverse patient population.

Our faculty members, who include Nobel laureates and members of the National Academies of Sciences, serve as national leaders in basic and applied research. Their scientific innovations and discoveries have been responsible for many new technologies and therapies that have improved healthcare.

For more than 50 years, the Department of Surgery has been dedicated to helping patients live well and stay well. We strive to advance surgical science, provide world-class patient care with a human touch, and ensure all trainees receive the broadest and most comprehensive education possible.

Ninh Nguyen, MD
Chair & Professor, Department of Surgery