Gezzer Ortega, MD

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 Mass General Brigham (MGB), Harvard Medical School. 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, promoting language-concordant care for patients with a non-English preferred language, and leveraging digital health solutions to achieve health equity for all surgical patients. He serves as the Principal Investigator of an NIH-NIMHD K23 and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Academic Development and Enrichment Faculty Career Development Award focused on improving outcomes for surgical patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Dr. Ortega was also the Project Director for the Provider Awareness and Cultural Dexterity Toolkit for Surgeons (PACTS) Trial, a NIH-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). Dr. Ortega received the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Citation Award (2021) and the Harvard Medical School Scholarly Engagement Excellence in Student Mentoring Award (2022). In 2024, Dr. Ortega was selected as a Scholar in the National Academy of Medicine Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence program.

Bariatric (Severe Obesity) Procedures

• abdominoplasty
• biliopancreatic diversion
• gastric banding
• gastroplasty
• jejunoilial bypass
• laparoscopic gastric banding
• laparoscopic gastric bypass
• roux-en-Y gastric bypass

Abdomen and Digestion Disorder/Procedure

• abdominal pain
• abdominoplasty
• adhesion removal
• anti-reflux procedures
• appendectomy
• esophagus perforation
• feeding tubes
• fundoplication
• fundoplication - laparoscopic
• gastric cancer
• gastroesophageal reflux disease
• malrotation
• peptic ulcer disease
• peritonitis
• peritonitis
• splenectomy

Pediatric Surgery

• abdominal pain
• bile duct surgery
• feeding tubes
• hepatobiliary surgery
• inguinal hernia
• intestinal failure management
• intussusception
• pyloric stenosis
• umbilical hernia

Minimally Invasive Procedures

• bone marrow aspiration/biopsy
• cryotherapy
• doppler ultrasound
• embolization procedures
• endoscopic surgery
• fine needle aspiration/biopsy
• laparoscopic surgery
• laser surgery
• microsurgery
• radiosurgery
• robotic surgery
• tumor ablation
• video assisted thoracic surgery

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston,

Physician

07/2018—Present

Harvard Medical School

Boston, MA

Assistant Professor

07/2018—Present