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The Ilitch Department of Surgery

About the Department

The Department has a long and rich history of clinical excellence, educational innovation, and novel research. How about being co-developers, with engineers from General Motors, of the world’s first successful heart pump–a device which revolutionized the care of the cardiac patient. And how about being a part of the biggest single-campus medical school in the United States? The Department faculty is a mix of senior surgeons, accomplished, experienced surgeons and young, well-trained surgical specialists eager to contribute their skills to teaching the craft of surgery.
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Our history

The Department has a long and rich history of clinical excellence, educational innovation, and novel research. How about being co-developers, with engineers from General Motors, of the world’s first successful heart pump–a device which revolutionized the care of the cardiac patient. And how about being a part of the biggest single-campus medical school in the United States? The Department faculty is a mix of senior surgeons, accomplished, experienced surgeons and young, well-trained surgical specialists eager to contribute their skills to teaching the craft of surgery.
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Our Chairman's Message

The era we find ourselves in, in surgery, is like none before. Surgery is becoming more minimally invasive, image-guided and technologically driven. A modern surgery department must recognize these changes, embrace them, and school its students in these evolving skills. The challenges of changing patterns of learning, of changing funding for research, and changing skill sets for clinical practices make this a time of great opportunity. New paradigms in each of these areas are needed to face the future. Our faculty bring creativity, and energy to help shape surgery as it will be practiced and taught tomorrow. We hope that this website will help you to know our Department better. Come. Join us. And Welcome.
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Our Faculty

The Department is home to more than 70 residents and fellows, taught by 47 full-time faculty and more than 90 clinical faculty. In addition, the surgical education of the 1,200 students in the Wayne State University School of Medicine is the Department’s responsibility. The diverse backgrounds and interests of the surgical faculty enrich the residency in several ways:
  • First, the majority of the faculty are engaged in either basic or clinical research, or both, which adds greater depth to their teaching.
  • Second, most of our faculty have more than one clinical interest or subspecialty.
  • Third, the faculty are dedicated teachers.
  • Fourth, each of our hospitals where residents rotate has full-time surgical faculty primarily based at that institution.
  • Finally, the regional and national reputations and contacts of the faculty provide an extensive network, helping our residents with their plans after they have completed their training.
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Wayne State School of Medicine

Wayne State’s history began in 1868, when five physicians who witnessed the crude medical treatment on Civil War battlefields committed themselves to advancing health education and care in Detroit. They founded the Detroit Medical College, which has since transformed into our School of Medicine. Click the button to check out the School of Medicine’s own website.

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