Nicolas Contreras
Rating: 4.9 of 5
( out of 116 reviews )

Nicolas Contreras, MD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Location

Huntsman Cancer Institute - Cancer Hospital South

1950 Circle of Hope
Salt Lake City , UT 84112
801-646-4111
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  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology
    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery
    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus
    • Lung Cancer
    • Mediastinal Tumors
    • Chest wall Reconstruction
    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
    • Lung Transplantation
    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer
    • Thoracic Oncology
    • Lung Transplantation
    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga University, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Patient Rating

    Rating: 4.9 out of 5
    4.9 /5
    ( out of 116 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    October 31, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Unlike many doctors he actually listened carefully and was able to help me with his team when I went undiagnosed for over 3 years thank you all.

    October 26, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Dr Contreas is the most caring, incredible surgeon I have been blessed to have care for me. He listens, never making me feel rushed. He explained everything in great ddetail.Despite having some continued issues, he is listening to my concerns and finding the cause. Thank you for everything you are doing for me. I am blessed

    October 24, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Dr. Contreras has been in communication with us from the beginning. The way he and his team have responded to request or reached out to help us has been wonderful.

    October 21, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten a better, more experienced, more knowledgeable, more personable, more considerate provider.

    October 05, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Dr. Contreras has been great to work with. He is knowledgeable and has a great bedside manner. He listens carefully, and makes sure that I understand what is going on.

    October 04, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Amazing Dr! He truly cares. He listens to my concerns and has made me feel as comfortable as I can be about having surgery.

    October 03, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Dr. Contreras is a top notch Surgeon and a wonderful person. He was very thorough in his work and made sure I was taken care of properly.

    September 28, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    It is a big comfort to know that they really care about me!

    September 15, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    He cares about me.

  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology
    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery
    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus
    • Lung Cancer
    • Mediastinal Tumors
    • Chest wall Reconstruction
    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
    • Lung Transplantation
    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer
    • Thoracic Oncology
    • Lung Transplantation
    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga University, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery -Assistant Professor (Clinical)
    Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery
    Board Certification
    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Education history

    Fellowship Cardiothoracic Surgery - University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Fellow
    Chief Resident General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Chief Resident
    Residency General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Resident
    Professional Medical Medicine - Mayo Medical School M.D.
    Undergraduate Biochemistry - Gonzaga University B.S.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Pulmonary Segmentectomy: Does Virtual Reality Have Bite? Ann Thorac Surg, 115(5), 1255-1256. (Read full publication)
    2. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Follow the Leader? Can Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Follow Non-small Cell Lung Cancer's Lead With Immunotherapy? Ann Thorac Surg, 114(5), e361. (Read full publication)
    3. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Systemic Disease and the Impact on Esophageal Carcinoma Management: The Big Picture. Ann Thorac Surg. (Read full publication)
    4. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Invited Commentary: COVID-19 and Cancer Casualty: Managing Esophageal Cancer. J Am Coll Surg, 235(2), 184-185. (Read full publication)
    5. Liu S, Contreras N, Krezalek MA, Abd El Aziz MA, Merchea A, Kelley SR, Behm K (2022). Robotic transanal minimally invasive surgery: a single institutional experience. Updates Surg, 74(3), 1011-1016. (Read full publication)
    6. Krezalek MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Parker ME, Kelley SR, Behm KT (2020). Hybrid Robotic Transanal Minimally Invasive Surgery Approach to Large and Low-Lying Rectal Polyps. Dis Colon Rectum, 63(7), 1001-1006. (Read full publication)
    7. Contreras N, Jakub JW (2019). The achilles heel of minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection: Seroma formation. Am J Surg, 219(4), 696-700. (Read full publication)
    8. Hernandez MC, Khasawneh M, Contreras-Peraza N, Lohse C, Stephens D, Kim BD, Zielinski MD (2019). Vaccination and splenectomy in Olmsted County. Surgery, 166(4), 556-563. (Read full publication)
    9. Khasawneh MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Hernandez MC, Lohse C, Jenkins DH, Zielinski MD (2019). Outcomes after splenectomy in children: a 48-year population-based study. Pediatr Surg Int, 35(5), 575-582. (Read full publication)
    10. Contreras N, Joyce DD, Van Handel AC, Farley DR (2015). Video voiceover feedback: economised surgical skills training. Med Educ, 49(11), 1146. (Read full publication)