Piroska C. Kopar
No Rating Available
(Learn About Our Rating System)

Piroska C. Kopar, MD, MBA, FACS

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Location

University of Utah Hospital

General Surgery, Area E
50 N Medical Dr
Salt Lake City , UT 84132
801-585-1618
Get Directions

University of Utah Hospital

SICU/ICU
50 N Medical Dr
Salt Lake City , UT 84132
801-581-2121
Get Directions

Piroska Kopar, MD, MBA, FACS, is a trauma and critical care surgeon with dual expertise in trauma and acute care surgery, surgical and cardiothoracic critical care, and clinical ethics. Her practice focuses on delivering goal-concordant, patient-centered care—ensuring that treatment decisions align with each patient’s values, identity, and definition of well-being.

Clinical Expertise

  • Trauma surgery and acute care surgery
  • Emergency general surgery
  • Surgical critical care
  • Cardiothoracic critical care
  • Ethics in surgical and critical care decision-making

Education and Training

Dr. Kopar earned her undergraduate degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, where she completed the Great Books Program, cultivating a foundation in philosophy and humanistic inquiry. She received the prestigious Robert W. Woodruff Scholarship to attend Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Following medical school, Dr. Kopar completed general and cardiac surgery training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, and clinical fellowships in trauma and surgical critical care at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut. She later pursued academic and research fellowships in medical ethics at Harvard Medical School’s Division of Medical Ethics, and completed the Surgical Education Research Fellowship through the Association for Surgical Education.

Dr. Kopar holds an Executive MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and is currently earning a Master’s Degree in Ethics from the University of Oxford Department of Philosophy.

Leadership and Academic Roles

Dr. Kopar is the founder and director of the Ethics of Surgery (EthoS) Fellowship at the Association for Surgical Education, a pioneering academic fellowship exploring ethical dimensions in surgical care and training. She also served as President of the Consortium for Surgical Ethics for seven years and currently serves on the Editorial Board of BMC Medical Ethics.

Her leadership bridges the fields of surgery, ethics, and education—helping shape national conversations about moral reasoning, fiduciary duty, and surgeon-patient relationships in modern healthcare.

Research Interests

Dr. Kopar’s research explores medical ethics as applied to surgical practice, focusing on:

  • Surgical informed consent
  • Fiduciary responsibility and clinical research ethics
  • Ethics of transplantation surgery
  • Surgical futility and the limits of intervention
  • Surrogate decision-making in surgery
  • Surgical “buy-in” and patient autonomy

Her work examines how the transformative nature of surgery intersects with moral and philosophical questions about trust, responsibility, and human vulnerability.

Personal Philosophy and Interests

Dr. Kopar describes herself as a “lifelong student of human nature,” drawing inspiration from literature, philosophy, and the moral psychology of caregiving. Like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, she brings intellectual curiosity and empathy to understanding both patients and the human condition.

Specialties

Board Certification

American Board of Surgery (Sub: General Surgery)
American Board of Surgery (Sub: Surgical Critical Care)

Piroska Kopar, MD, MBA, FACS, is a trauma and critical care surgeon with dual expertise in trauma and acute care surgery, surgical and cardiothoracic critical care, and clinical ethics. Her practice focuses on delivering goal-concordant, patient-centered care—ensuring that treatment decisions align with each patient’s values, identity, and definition of well-being.

Clinical Expertise

  • Trauma surgery and acute care surgery
  • Emergency general surgery
  • Surgical critical care
  • Cardiothoracic critical care
  • Ethics in surgical and critical care decision-making

Education and Training

Dr. Kopar earned her undergraduate degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, where she completed the Great Books Program, cultivating a foundation in philosophy and humanistic inquiry. She received the prestigious Robert W. Woodruff Scholarship to attend Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Following medical school, Dr. Kopar completed general and cardiac surgery training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, and clinical fellowships in trauma and surgical critical care at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut. She later pursued academic and research fellowships in medical ethics at Harvard Medical School’s Division of Medical Ethics, and completed the Surgical Education Research Fellowship through the Association for Surgical Education.

Dr. Kopar holds an Executive MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and is currently earning a Master’s Degree in Ethics from the University of Oxford Department of Philosophy.

Leadership and Academic Roles

Dr. Kopar is the founder and director of the Ethics of Surgery (EthoS) Fellowship at the Association for Surgical Education, a pioneering academic fellowship exploring ethical dimensions in surgical care and training. She also served as President of the Consortium for Surgical Ethics for seven years and currently serves on the Editorial Board of BMC Medical Ethics.

Her leadership bridges the fields of surgery, ethics, and education—helping shape national conversations about moral reasoning, fiduciary duty, and surgeon-patient relationships in modern healthcare.

Research Interests

Dr. Kopar’s research explores medical ethics as applied to surgical practice, focusing on:

  • Surgical informed consent
  • Fiduciary responsibility and clinical research ethics
  • Ethics of transplantation surgery
  • Surgical futility and the limits of intervention
  • Surrogate decision-making in surgery
  • Surgical “buy-in” and patient autonomy

Her work examines how the transformative nature of surgery intersects with moral and philosophical questions about trust, responsibility, and human vulnerability.

Personal Philosophy and Interests

Dr. Kopar describes herself as a “lifelong student of human nature,” drawing inspiration from literature, philosophy, and the moral psychology of caregiving. Like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, she brings intellectual curiosity and empathy to understanding both patients and the human condition.

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Surgery -Associate Professor (Clinical)
Academic Divisions General Surgery
Board Certification
American Board of Surgery (Sub: General Surgery)
American Board of Surgery (Sub: Surgical Critical Care)

Education history

Undergraduate Philosophy and History of Science - St. John's College B.A.
Graduate Training Pre-Medical - Goucher College Postbaccalaureate Studies
Professional Medical Medicine - Emory University School of Medicine M.D.
Residency General Surgery - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Resident
Residency Medical Ethics - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Research Resident
Fellowship Medical Ethics - Harvard Medical School Academic Fellow
Fellowship Medical Ethics - Harvard Medical School Research Fellow
Residency General Surgery - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Chief Resident
Fellowship Cardiac Surgery - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Fellow
Fellowship Trauma and Surgical Critical Care - Yale School of Medicine Fellow
Fellowship Acute Care Surgery - Yale School of Medicine Fellow
Fellowship Surgical Education Research - Association for Surgical Education Fellow
Graduate Training Business Administration - Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis M.B.A.
Graduate Training Practical Ethics - Oxford University MSt

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Lekstrom-Himes JA, Dorman SE, Kopar P, Holland SM, Gallin JI (1999). Neutrophil-specific granule deficiency results from a novel mutation with loss of function of the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein epsilon. J Exp Med, 189(11), 1847-52.
  2. Tibbs BM, Kopar P, Dente CJ, Rozycki GS, Feliciano DV (2008). Acetabular and isolated pelvic ring fractures: a comparison of initial assessment and outcome. Am Surg, 74(6), 538-41; discussion 541.
  3. Kopar PK, Lui F (2020). Surgeon as Double Agent: Perception of Conflicting Expectations of Patient Care and Stewardship of Resources. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 231(2), 239-243.e4.
  4. Kramer JB, Brown DE, Kopar P (2020). Ethics in the Time of Coronavirus: Recommendations in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 230(6), 1114-1118.
  5. Kopar PK, Brown DE, Turnbull I (2020). Ethics of Codes and Codes of Ethics: When Is It Ethical to Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation During the COVID-19 Pandemic?. Annals of surgery, 272(6), 930-934.
  6. Yee A, Li J, Lilly J, Hildebrandt S, Seidelman WE, Brown D, Kopar P, Coert JH, Mackinnon SE, Israel H (2021). Oral and maxillofacial surgeons' assessment of the role of Pernkopf's atlas in surgical practice. Annals of anatomy = Anatomischer Anzeiger, 234, 151614.
  7. Kopar PK, Kramer JB, Brown DE, Bochicchio G (2021). Critical Ethics: How to Balance Patient Autonomy With Fairness When Patients Refuse Coronavirus Disease 2019 Testing. Critical care explorations, 3(1), e0326.
  8. Drubin C, Frye CC, Brown D, Kopar (2021). When Doctors Disagree: A Case-Based Discussion of Pro-Active Ethics. The Journal of clinical ethics, 32(1), 61-68.
  9. Kopar PK, Visani A, Squirrell K, Brown D (2022). Addressing Futility: A Practical Approach. Critical care explorations, 4(7), e0706.
  10. Noda CH, Brown D, Kopar P (2023). The Surgeon as a Professional: Changes and Challenges Over Time. Annals of surgery, 278(2), 179-183.
  11. Paneitz DC, Jefferson HL, Hanto DW, McKneally MF, Williamson TL, Mayer JE Jr, Angelos P, Brown DE, Kopar P (2023). Surgical Ethics Training: Educational and Professional Opportunities. Annals of surgery, 278(6), e1161-e1163.
  12. Squirrell K, Deivanayagam S, Niles K, Wang J, Kopar P (2023). A Gap in Mission: The Disparate Missions of Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals. Journal of medical education and curricular development, 10, 23821205231211081.

Case Report

  1. Linkugel AD, Yu J, Kopar PK, Kodner IJ, Brown D, Patel K (2023). A Case of Nonsyndromic Craniosynostosis in an Infant Child of Jehovah's Witness Parents: Is Surgical Correction Appropriate?. The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal, 60(3), 280-284.

Letter

  1. Kramer JB, Brown DE, Kopar P (2020). Ethics in the Time of Coronavirus: Engaging the Conversation: In Reply to Hai and Colleagues. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 231(2), 302-303.
  2. Kopar PK, Brown D (2020). The Triage Stalemate During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Losing Fairness to Ethical Paralysis. Critical care medicine, 48(12), e1380-e1381.
  3. Kopar PK, Vallar KJ, Kepper P, Brown D (2022). To reimagine the surgeon archetype, we need an arche-system: In response to Bakke et al's "Surgical archetype". Surgery, 171(4), 1135-1136.