Newswise — Gordon Schwartz, M.D., M.B.A., has been appointed director of the Jefferson Breast Care Center at the Kimmel Cancer Center (KCC), and will also return to the full-time faculty as a professor in Jefferson’s Department of Surgery. With more than 40 years of clinical and educational experience, Dr. Schwartz is an internationally renowned expert in breast diseases.
Dr. Schwartz has been associated with Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital since 1970 when he was appointed an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery. Ultimately, he rose to the rank of full professor in 1978 and during his tenure here has been the director of Surgical Academic Programs (1970-80); the director of the Surgical Residency Program (1970-79); and the director of the Fellowship in Breast Diseases (since 2003). He has been an Attending Physician at Jefferson since 1970 and has dedicated his practice to treating patients with breast diseases, both benign and malignant.
Dr. Schwartz earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. His postgraduate training began as a surgical intern at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. His surgical training was interrupted by military service as a surgeon in the United States Army’s 24th Infantry Division Artillery in Munich, Germany attaining the rank of Captain. After his Honorable Discharge, he completed a residency in surgery at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where he served as Chief Resident Surgeon his final year; and he then served a one year fellowship as a U.S. Public Health Service Cancer Control Senior Trainee at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990 he earned a master of business administration degree (MBA) from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Schwartz is Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi and Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA). He was awarded the AOA Faculty Award for Distinguished Teaching from Jefferson in 1974. He has received numerous citations from Best Doctors in America and is included in numerous editions of Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation honored him with their “Race for the Cure” Award in 1996. Dr. Schwartz has served on the editorial boards of such noted journals as CANCER, Seminars in Breast Disease and The Breast Journal, among others; and is a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, American College of Surgeons, American Society for Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the American Society of Breast Disease (Past President). He has had more than 225 research studies published, most in the areas of breast diseases and breast cancer, during his career.
Kristin Brill, M.D. an instructor in the Department of Surgery and member of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, will join Dr. Schwartz as a second full-time faculty member whose surgical practice is dedicated to patients with breast diseases.
Jefferson Breast Care Center Receives Full AccreditationThe Jefferson Breast Care Center recently received a full, three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). Accreditation by the NAPBC is only given to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. The center must demonstrate compliance with the standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. These standards include proficiency in the areas of: center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement. The NAPBC represents a consortium of national, professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes of patients with diseases of the breast. This mission is pursued through standard-setting, scientific validation and patient and professional education. The NAPBC Board has worked diligently to assure multidisciplinary leadership representation and has sanctioned its program structure and standards, which include nationally recognized breast cancer quality performance measures that will serve as an initial platform for measuring quality improvement.
RSS