Thomas K. Varghese Jr.
( out of 234 reviews )

Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS

Languages spoken: English, Malayalam

Clinical Locations

  • Huntsman Cancer Hospital

    801-587-4470

  • Dr. Thomas Varghese Jr. is the Associate Chief Medical Quality Officer and Chief Value Officer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Chief - Section of General Thoracic Surgery at the University of Utah. He is also Professor (Tenure Track) in the Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine.

    Dr. Varghese's clinical interests are in Thoracic Surgical Oncology. A national leader in minimally invasive applications for general thoracic surgery, he is recognized by Castle Connolly as one of America’s “Top Docs”, and is ranked in the top 10% of the nation by Press Ganey for patient satisfaction scores. He was recruited to the University of Utah from the University of Washington in 2015, and has helped build a Thoracic Surgery Center of Excellence at the University of Utah/Huntsman Cancer Institute that actively participates in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Database, American College of Surgeons (ACS) Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and has received recognition as a national lung cancer surgery center of excellence by US News and World Report, and Vizient.

    His research interests bridge the world of Educational Research and Health Services Research, specifically in the arena of optimizing performance at the patient, surgeon and system levels. He created the Strong for Surgery program while he was at the University of Washington, which is now a formal Quality Improvement program of the American College of Surgeons, and active at 331 clinical sites across the nation and 3 state surgical collaboratives ( https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/strong-for-surgery ). He has a track record of peer-reviewed publications and extramural funding, including current RO1 funding from the National Cancer Institute with Co-PIs Dr. Neli Ulrich (Dept. of Population Sciences) and Dr. Paul LaStayo (Dept. of Physical Therapy) for a pragmatic randomized clinical trial examining the effects of a unique Prescription Exercise Prescription (PEP) for lung cancer surgical patients utlizing an integrated Physical Therapy Clinic model (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30559162 )

    Dr. Varghese holds national leadership positions in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Thoracic Surgery Directors Association, American College of Surgeons, and the Society of University Surgeons. He was elected to the inaugural class of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators in 2018, and was the first Chair of the Thoracic Surgery Outcomes Research Network (ThORN), a collaborative that spans 29 institutions across the nation [http://thoracicoutcomes.org/]. Dr. Varghese is active on social media, blue check-marked on Twitter (@tomvarghesejr ) and is the Deputy Editor of Digital Media and Digital Scholarship for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

    At the University of Utah, Dr. Varghese is a member of an active collaborative of Chief Value Officers, Education Leaders and Health Services Researchers that embraces the Triple Aim (outstanding patient-centered care, improving the health of the population we serve, reducing the cost of care) with the goal of maintaining the University of Utah at the highest level of patient care in the country.

    Specialties

    • Minimally Invasive Lung & Esophageal Surgery
    • Esophageal Surgery
    • Lung Cancer
    • Cardiothoracic Surgery

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery - Primary
    Academic Divisions
    Cardiothoracic Surgery

    Patient Rating

    4.9 /5
    ( out of 234 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 Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey and displayed in their entirety.
    Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    February 25, 2023

    Attentive and knowledgeable in his field. Exudes confidence of decisions for care and prescriptive treatment.

    February 24, 2023

    Dr Varghese is considerate and helpful, always has been. I appreciate everything he has done and is doing for me.

    February 18, 2023

    Dr. Varghesebis a very good doctor. He listened to my concerns and told me his concerns. I understand where he is coming from and he understands what my needs are.

    See More Patient Comments

  • Dr. Thomas Varghese Jr. is the Associate Chief Medical Quality Officer and Chief Value Officer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Chief - Section of General Thoracic Surgery at the University of Utah. He is also Professor (Tenure Track) in the Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine.

    Dr. Varghese's clinical interests are in Thoracic Surgical Oncology. A national leader in minimally invasive applications for general thoracic surgery, he is recognized by Castle Connolly as one of America’s “Top Docs”, and is ranked in the top 10% of the nation by Press Ganey for patient satisfaction scores. He was recruited to the University of Utah from the University of Washington in 2015, and has helped build a Thoracic Surgery Center of Excellence at the University of Utah/Huntsman Cancer Institute that actively participates in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Database, American College of Surgeons (ACS) Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and has received recognition as a national lung cancer surgery center of excellence by US News and World Report, and Vizient.

    His research interests bridge the world of Educational Research and Health Services Research, specifically in the arena of optimizing performance at the patient, surgeon and system levels. He created the Strong for Surgery program while he was at the University of Washington, which is now a formal Quality Improvement program of the American College of Surgeons, and active at 331 clinical sites across the nation and 3 state surgical collaboratives ( https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/strong-for-surgery ). He has a track record of peer-reviewed publications and extramural funding, including current RO1 funding from the National Cancer Institute with Co-PIs Dr. Neli Ulrich (Dept. of Population Sciences) and Dr. Paul LaStayo (Dept. of Physical Therapy) for a pragmatic randomized clinical trial examining the effects of a unique Prescription Exercise Prescription (PEP) for lung cancer surgical patients utlizing an integrated Physical Therapy Clinic model (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30559162 )

    Dr. Varghese holds national leadership positions in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Thoracic Surgery Directors Association, American College of Surgeons, and the Society of University Surgeons. He was elected to the inaugural class of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators in 2018, and was the first Chair of the Thoracic Surgery Outcomes Research Network (ThORN), a collaborative that spans 29 institutions across the nation [http://thoracicoutcomes.org/]. Dr. Varghese is active on social media, blue check-marked on Twitter (@tomvarghesejr ) and is the Deputy Editor of Digital Media and Digital Scholarship for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

    At the University of Utah, Dr. Varghese is a member of an active collaborative of Chief Value Officers, Education Leaders and Health Services Researchers that embraces the Triple Aim (outstanding patient-centered care, improving the health of the population we serve, reducing the cost of care) with the goal of maintaining the University of Utah at the highest level of patient care in the country.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery -Primary
    Academic Divisions
    Cardiothoracic Surgery

    Research interests

    • Methods to Promote the Uptake of Research Findings into Healthcare (Implementation Science)
    • Interprofessional Education
    • Health Services Research Including Use of Population-Based Data, Cost & Utility Analyses, and Patient-Derived Outcomes

    Education history

    Graduate Training Business - University of Utah Executive M.B.A.
    Cardiothoracic Surgery - University of Michigan Administrative Chief Resident
    Fellowship Cardiothoracic Surgery - University of Michigan Fellow
    General Surgery - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chief Resident
    Residency General Surgery - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Resident
    Clinical Investigation - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine M.S.
    Research Fellow Organ Transplantation - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Research Fellow
    General Surgery Residency - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Resident
    Internship/Residency Rotating Resident Internship - Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram Intern/Resident
    Medicine - Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram/University of Kerala M.D.

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