Services
The Department of Surgery offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient surgical services at various locations in and around Boston.
Department of Surgery
About the Department of Surgery
The Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) provides a comprehensive range of specialized services designed to deliver advanced surgical care. Our team of surgeons is dedicated to excellence, combining leading-edge techniques with compassionate, patient-centered care. Our surgeons work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including specialists from various fields, to create personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient's needs.
Our department has an explicit mission to provide advanced surgical care of the very highest quality to those in need, improve health through innovation and discovery and prepare future leaders in American surgery.
Message from the Chair
Since its origins in the 1860s under the leadership of David Williams Cheever, MD (1831 – 1915), the Department of Surgery at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has been a preeminent center of surgical care, training, and research. In this tradition, we continue to dedicate ourselves each and every day to providing innovative care of the highest quality.
For 150 years, a foundation of excellence in the Department of Surgery at BIDMC has been nurtured and sustained by a variety of outstanding leaders of Harvard Medical School. Our duty has always been to create a supportive, nurturing, and collaborative environment that encourages each and every member of our community to think differently and challenge the status quo so that modern medical miracles continue to happen.
Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Surgery
Surgeon-in-Chief
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;
Johnson and Johnson Professor of Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Inside Surgery Magazine
The Department of Surgery publishes a magazine, Inside Surgery, that describes our clinical, research, and educational programs, highlights events, and recognizes the on-going achievements of our faculty, fellows, residents and administrators.
Our History
The roots of the Harvard Surgical Service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center trace back to 1864, marking it among the nation’s oldest academic programs. Founded with a commitment to deliver exceptional surgical care, advance health through innovation, and cultivate future surgical leaders, the service initially thrived under Dr. David Williams Cheever. A prominent figure in surgery, Dr. Cheever expanded the program’s clinical, educational, and research endeavors, succeeding Henry J. Bigelow as Harvard Medical School’s Chair of Surgery.
In 1973, following Harvard’s separation from Boston City Hospital, the Harvard Surgical Service, along with faculty, residents, and research resources like the Sears Surgical Research Laboratories, relocated to the New England Deaconess Hospital. The merger of Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital in 1996 formed Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, uniting two esteemed institutions known for outstanding patient care, pioneering research, and medical education. Founded in 1896 to serve underserved residents, New England Deaconess Hospital joined forces with Beth Israel Hospital, established in 1916 to support Boston’s immigrant community.
Today, the medical center is a tertiary/quaternary hospital with a wide range of multidisciplinary, cutting-edge clinical programs. Nearly 30,000 operative procedures are conducted each year at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, making it one of the busiest centers for surgical care in the United States.
Education & Training
Our surgical training and education program produces the country's future surgical leaders: surgeons who will provide extraordinary care, embrace challenges, and solve problems.
Research & Clinical Trials
Our translational and clinical research programs are dedicated to closing ingenuity gaps that exist in the care of our patients. We embrace interdisciplinary collaborations, which foster close connections between bench and bedside and accelerate clinical trials of promising technologies to improve human health and wellbeing.
Surgery Research
The Division of Surgical Sciences conducts patient-centered and population-based clinical research to advance surgical care and improve patient outcomes.
Drug Discovery & Translational Research
The Center for Drug Discovery and Translational Research advances biomedical discoveries from lab to clinic.
Facilitating Innovative Research & Surgical Trials
The Facilitating Innovative Research and Surgical Trials (FIRST) Program provides essential research support for surgeon-investigators.
Glycoscience
The HMS Center for Glycoscience conducts translational research focused on the biological role of glycans in health and disease.
Nutrition Medicine
The Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine advances research, education, and public health policy in nutrition and chronic disease prevention.
Regenerative Therapeutics
The Rongxiang Xu, MD, Center for Regenerative Therapeutics conducts research, educates physicians and fosters international collaborations.
Transplant Research
The Transplant Research Center pioneers research, global collaboration, and translating lab discoveries into clinical advances with organ transplantation.
Clinical Trials
To engage in clinical research, you can explore ongoing studies in the Clinical Trial Directory or join the Clinical Research Volunteer Registry.
Divisions & Centers
Divisions under the Department of Surgery span a wide range of specialty areas. They provide clinical, research and education programs to support patients, researchers, faculty and students.
Meet the Department Teams
Our Department of Surgery teams include clinical staff, medical education faculty and research investigators, all working to advance surgical care.
