William P. Schecter, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.M.

Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of Surgery

Chief of Surgery, San Francisco General Hospital

Contact Information

Campus Box 0807
UCSF Department of Surgery
San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco, CA 94143-0807
Clinic Appointments:  (415) 206-8673
Clinic Nurse:  (415) 206-8271
Office:  (415) 206-4626
Main Office: (415) 206-8814
Fax:  (415) 206-3176
bschect@sfghsurg.ucsf.edu

Education

  • Harpur College, State University of New York, A.B. Magna Cum Laude, Political Science, 1964-68
  • Albany Medical College, M.D., Medicine, 1968-72

Residencies

  • San Francisco General Hospital, Intern, Medicine, 1972-1973
  • Massachusetts General Hospital, Resident, Anesthesia, 1973-1975
  • UCSF School of Medicine, Resident, Surgery, 1976-1978
  • UCSF School of Medicine, Chief Resident, Surgery, 1978-1979

Fellowships

  • San Francisco Hand Fellowship, 1979-1980

Postdoctoral Training

Board Certification

  • American Board of Anesthesiology, 1978
  • American Board of Surgery, 1980, renewed 1990, 2004
  • American Board of Surgery, Surgery Critical Care, 1987, renewed 1995, 2004

Program Affiliations

Clinical Expertise

  • Trauma Surgery
  • General Surgery
  • Endocrine Surgery
  • Burn Surgery
  • Critical Care Medicine

Research Interests

  • Clinical surgical problems related to injury and infection
  • Clinical surgical problems related to HIV infection
  • Occupational risk of blood-borne infection
  • Ethical issues in surgical practice relating to the treatment of HIV-infected patients and end of life decisions
  • Mass casualty events

Website LInks

http://www.operationaccess.org/

 

Biography

Dr. William P. Schecter is Professor of Clinical Surgery and Vice-Chair of Surgery at UCSF and Chief of Surgery at the San Francisco General Hospital.  He received an A.B. in Political Science at Harpur College (Binghamton, New York) in 1968, his M.D. at the Albany Medical College (New York State) in 1972 and completed a Rotating Internship at the SFGH (1972-1973).  His subsequent education included a residency in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a residency in Surgery at UCSF and a Fellowship in Hand Surgery. 

 

In 1980 Dr. Schecter joined the UCSF faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery. He then served as the Chief of Surgery at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center, Pago Pago, American Samoa (1981-1983) and as a Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Natal, Durban, RSA (1983-1984).  Dr. Schecter returned to UCSF in 1984. Dr. Schecter was appointed Chief of Surgery at the San Francisco General Hospital and Vice-Chair of Surgery at UCSF in 1993.

 

Between January 1 and June 30, 2004, Dr. Schecter spent a Sabbatical at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, studying civilian hospital response to mass casualty events.  In July and August 2006, Dr. Schecter served in the Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed, Israel, caring for casualties from the 2006 Lebanon war. 

 

Dr. Schecter has served as President of the San Francisco Surgical Society, President of the Northern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Governor of the American College of Surgeons, President of the Board of Directors of Operation Access (a non-profit corporation providing uncompensated surgical services to the uninsured) and Vice-President of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association.  In 2004, he was elected as a Director of the American Board of Surgery. 

 

Dr. Schecter’s clinical interests involve the surgery of poverty: trauma, soft tissue infections related to drug use and alcoholism, advanced malignancy related to poor access to health care and the surgical treatment of HIV infected patients.

Selected Publications

  1. Schecter WP, Swisher JL. Local Anesthesia in Surgical Practice. Current Problems in Surgery. 37: 1-68., 2000. This article is a monograph on the use of local anesthesia in surgical practice. I planned the entire monograph and write 80% of the manuscript.
  2. Schecter WP. Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Malignancy: Thoughts on Viral Oncogenesis. Arch Surg. 136: 1419-1426., 2001. I researched and wrote the entire manuscript which was initially preseted as the Charles Eckert Lecture in Surgery at the Albany Medical College. This article is a reflection on one aspect of the work I have done as a surgeon dealing with the HIV epidemic.
  3. Schecter WP. Peritoneum and Acute Abdomen. Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Evidence. 413-427, 2001. This chapter was written for a major texbook of surgery. I attempt to guide the reader through the history, physical examination and adjunctive tests used in the evaluation of patients who present with acute abdominal pain. I also discuss the difficult judgment decisions required from the perspective of a clinical surgeon.
  4. Schecter WP, Bongard FS, Gainor BJ, Weltz DL, Horn JK. Pain Control in Outpatient Surgery. J Am Coll Surg. 195: 95-104., 2002. I organized a panel on Pain Control in Outpatient Surgery which was held at the 2002 Annual Meeting of hte American College of Surgeons. I recruited the panelists, extensively edited their manuscripts and wrote significant sections of the final manuscript submitted for publication.
  5. Debas HT, Freischlag JA, Schecter WP, Warshaw Al. Pacific Coast Surgical Association Panel on Surgical Practice. Arch Surg. 138: 977-86., 2003. This article is the manuscript of a panel discussion on Surgical Practice held at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association. I was invited to make a presentation on Volunteerism in Surgical Practice based on my career. I wrote the entire section of the article dealing with Volunteerism. The pictures illustrating that section of the article were my own photographs.