Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS

Languages spoken: English, Malayalam
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  • 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
    - Adjunct
    Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery

    Patient Rating

    4.9/5

    The Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to care provider related questions on our nationally-recognized Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey.

    Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

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    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.

    November 21, 2022

    Dr. Varghese & his team were excellent. He answered every one of my questions as well as my wife's. Whenever we had a concern or question he or his team would answer our calls or messages. We live in Idaho so it was very important to have good communication with my surgeon. I highly recommend Dr Varghese & the excellent care I received at Huntsman's Cancer Institute.

    November 19, 2022

    Dr. Varghese was very helpful in clearly explaining his recommendations for surgery and how it would be done. Provided specific instructions for steps I needed to take in preparation to maximize my chances for best outcomes. Patiently answered all my questions and addressed my concerns. Very reassuring and emphasized my role as active participant in plan.

    October 04, 2022

    They really came through with the dentist, that was nice, they didn't have too.

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  • 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
    -Adjunct
    Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery

    Research interests

    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.

  • Podcasts, News, & Videos

    The Scope Podcast