General Surgery
MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Lead Faculty for Research & Innovation for Equitable Surgical Care, Center for Surgery and Public Health and Adjunct Faculty, Patient-Reported Outcomes, Value & Experience Center, Brigham & Women’s…
Gezzer Ortega, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Lead Faculty for Research and Innovation for Equitable Surgical Care at the Center for Surgery and Public Health in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School, and adjunct faculty at the Patient Reported Outcomes, Value & Experience Center. Born in a low-income Brooklyn neighborhood to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Dr. Ortega’s work centers on improving surgical care for low-income and historically underserved populations and promoting language-concordant care for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). He serves as the Principal Investigator of a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) K23 and BWH Center for Diversity and Inclusion Minority Faculty Career Development Award focused on improving outcomes for surgical patients with LEP. Dr. Ortega was also the Project Director for the Provider Awareness and Cultural Dexterity Toolkit for Surgeons (PACTS) Trial, a NIMHD R01 project to develop and evaluate a curriculum for surgical residents to improve cross-cultural communication and engagement. Dr. Ortega endeavors to diversify the academic physician workforce and was recognized as Health Provider of the Year (2020) by the Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians. He co-founded the Latino Surgical Society, which supports the advancement of Latino/a/x surgeons. The National Hispanic Medical Association honored Dr. Ortega as Young Physician of the Year (2020), and he participated in the Emerging Leaders Forum for the National Academy of Medicine. He also received the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Citation Award (2021) and the Harvard Medical School Scholarly Engagement Excellence in Student Mentoring Award (2022). Dr. Ortega earned a Doctor of Medicine from Howard University College of Medicine, a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University.
Selected publications from PubMed
Chest Pain, Family History, and Surgery: A Qualitative Interview Study of Cholecystectomy Patients.
Freundlich NZ, Cordero L, Choron R, Ortega G, Jeffery M, Singh P, Gracias V, Narayan M, Wise S, Strom BL, Hudson SV, Peck GL
J Surg Res. 2025 Nov;315:9-17 doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2025.08.009.
The Digital Standardized Patient: An Artificial Intelligence Coach for Cultural Dexterity in Surgical Care.
Rao AS, Lee RS, Bott E, Jiang S, Jiao Q, Dacier BM, Haider A, Farrell S, Ortega G, Succi MD
J Am Coll Surg. 2025 Nov 1;241(5):887-894 doi: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001505.
Teaching cultural dexterity in surgical care: As essential to a surgeon's skill set as tying a knot.
Ortega G, Dacier BM, Zárate Rodriguez J, Chun MBJ, Udyavar NR, Allar BG, Green AR, Haider AH, Smink DS, PACTS Trial Group
Am J Surg. 2024 Nov;237:115705 doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.03.001.
A Randomized Crossover Trial Evaluating the Impact of Cultural Dexterity Training on Surgical Residents' Knowledge, Cross-Cultural Care, Skills, and Beliefs: The Provider Awareness and Cultural Dexterity Training for Surgeons (PACTS) Trial.
Smink DS, Ortega G, Dacier BM, Petrusa ER, Chen YJ, Shaikh NQ, Allar BG, Chun MBJ, Green AR, Caldwell KE, Atkinson RB, Reidy E, Olufajo OA, Britt LD, Brittain MA, Zárate Rodriguez J, Swoboda SM, Cornwell EE, Lynch KA, Wise PE, Harrington DT, Kent TS, Mullen JT, Lipsett PA, Haider AH, the PACTS Trial Group
Ann Surg. 2024 Sep 1;280(3):403-413 doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006408.
Improved Mortality of Patients with Gastroschisis: A Historical Literature Review of Advances in Surgery and Critical Care from 1960-2020.
Georgeades C, Mowrer A, Ortega G, Abdullah F, Salazar JH
Children (Basel). 2022 Sep 30;9(10) doi: 10.3390/children9101504.
Gezzer Ortega, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Lead Faculty for Research and Innovation for Equitable Surgical Care at the Center for Surgery and Public Health in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School, and adjunct faculty at the Patient Reported Outcomes, Value & Experience Center. Born in a low-income Brooklyn neighborhood to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Dr. Ortega’s work centers on improving surgical care for low-income and historically underserved populations and promoting language-concordant care for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). He serves as the Principal Investigator of a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) K23 and BWH Center for Diversity and Inclusion Minority Faculty Career Development Award focused on improving outcomes for surgical patients with LEP. Dr. Ortega was also the Project Director for the Provider Awareness and Cultural Dexterity Toolkit for Surgeons (PACTS) Trial, a NIMHD R01 project to develop and evaluate a curriculum for surgical residents to improve cross-cultural communication and engagement. Dr. Ortega endeavors to diversify the academic physician workforce and was recognized as Health Provider of the Year (2020) by the Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians. He co-founded the Latino Surgical Society, which supports the advancement of Latino/a/x surgeons. The National Hispanic Medical Association honored Dr. Ortega as Young Physician of the Year (2020), and he participated in the Emerging Leaders Forum for the National Academy of Medicine. He also received the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Citation Award (2021) and the Harvard Medical School Scholarly Engagement Excellence in Student Mentoring Award (2022). Dr. Ortega earned a Doctor of Medicine from Howard University College of Medicine, a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University.
With Latino Surgical Society
Published
Oct 2025
In the modern healthcare environment, the scope of surgical responsibility extends well beyond technical expertise: it encompasses the ethical, professional and interpersonal obligations that surgeons hold toward their patients, colleagues and society. This event aims to explore these multifaceted dimensions, examining how responsibility in surgery influences not only clinical outcomes but also the broader healthcare landscape.
With American College of Surgeons
Published
Nov 2024
The Latino Surgical Society (LSS) was estabished to cultivate, nurture, and support the advancement of Latinos in surgery. The LSS aims to create programming that facilitates the professional development, promotes intellectual exchange amongst surgeons, and builds strategic collaborations with other professional societies and organizations. We also seek to advance initiatives to promote the health and welfare of Latino communities and encourage the study of diseases and healthcare issues of importance to our Latino community.
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Oct 2021
Help your network discover Dr. Gezzer Ortega's clinical expertise.
