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Nicolas Contreras
( out of 18 reviews )

Nicolas Contreras, MD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery

    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus

    • Lung Cancer

    • Mediastinal Tumors

    • Chest wall Reconstruction

    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Board Certification

    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Patient Rating

    5.0 /5
    ( out of 18 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 patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety.
    Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    November 28, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    He could not have been more informative or more caring. Many of our questions were anticipated and all were answered. We have great confidence in relying on Dr. Contreras for my upcoming surgery.

    November 22, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Contreras was amazing! Best Doctor I have ever seen. Highly recommend.

    November 17, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Contreras is a skilled surgeon. He explain the procedure with clarity and made me feel comfortable submitting to a big procedure.

    November 15, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Contreras was not only professional and capable but you could also tell that he genuinely cared.

    November 09, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Amazing dr., very knowledgeable, skilled and caring.

    November 08, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Informative and caring. We have complete confidence in allowing him to handle my surgery.

    November 06, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Nicolas Contreras was truly amazing. His expertise was evident. When you submit to a procedure such as my husband's, you want to know you're in the best possible hands. He immediately put our minds at ease. We knew we could trust my husband's life to him.

    October 22, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Was kind and gentle. Made sure I understood what needed to be addressed. Felt lucky he was the Doctor I got

    October 20, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Thank you, Dr Contreras and your team. It is because of HCI and Dr Contreras that I am alive and recovering. He explained everything that was going to happen and was extremely reassuring and compassionate. He made a very scary time in my life feel much more manageable and comfortable. He is brilliant and kind and his patients can tell how much he cares.

  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery

    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus

    • Lung Cancer

    • Mediastinal Tumors

    • Chest wall Reconstruction

    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery -Primary
    Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery
    Board Certification
    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Education history

    Fellowship Cardiothoracic Surgery - ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Fellow
    Chief Resident General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Chief Resident
    Residency General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Resident
    Professional Medical Medicine - Mayo Medical School M.D.
    Undergraduate Biochemistry - Gonzaga ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ B.S.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Pulmonary Segmentectomy: Does Virtual Reality Have Bite? Ann Thorac Surg, 115(5), 1255-1256. ()
    2. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Follow the Leader? Can Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Follow Non-small Cell Lung Cancer's Lead With Immunotherapy? Ann Thorac Surg, 114(5), e361. ()
    3. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Systemic Disease and the Impact on Esophageal Carcinoma Management: The Big Picture. Ann Thorac Surg. ()
    4. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Invited Commentary: COVID-19 and Cancer Casualty: Managing Esophageal Cancer. J Am Coll Surg, 235(2), 184-185. ()
    5. Liu S, Contreras N, Krezalek MA, Abd El Aziz MA, Merchea A, Kelley SR, Behm K (2022). Robotic transanal minimally invasive surgery: a single institutional experience. Updates Surg, 74(3), 1011-1016. ()
    6. Krezalek MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Parker ME, Kelley SR, Behm KT (2020). Hybrid Robotic Transanal Minimally Invasive Surgery Approach to Large and Low-Lying Rectal Polyps. Dis Colon Rectum, 63(7), 1001-1006. ()
    7. Contreras N, Jakub JW (2019). The achilles heel of minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection: Seroma formation. Am J Surg, 219(4), 696-700. ()
    8. Hernandez MC, Khasawneh M, Contreras-Peraza N, Lohse C, Stephens D, Kim BD, Zielinski MD (2019). Vaccination and splenectomy in Olmsted County. Surgery, 166(4), 556-563. ()
    9. Khasawneh MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Hernandez MC, Lohse C, Jenkins DH, Zielinski MD (2019). Outcomes after splenectomy in ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵren: a 48-year population-based study. Pediatr Surg Int, 35(5), 575-582. ()
    10. Contreras N, Joyce DD, Van Handel AC, Farley DR (2015). Video voiceover feedback: economised surgical skills training. Med Educ, 49(11), 1146. ()