Dr. Matt Koopmann on tour in Afghanistan at the Kunduz Airport with his team in 2015
Matthew Koopmann, MD
General Surgery Resident, Class of 2012
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Oregon Health Sciences University
Vascular Surgeon, Portland VA Medical Center
General Surgeon, Major, United States Army Reserves Medical Corps
Reflecting on your time here at the UW Dept of Surgery, what do you believe helped you prepare for your surgical career?
I think the autonomy we were given as residents prepared me for independent practice. We were encouraged to be independent thinkers, operate with graduated autonomy, and teach other residents. I especially valued my experience at the Middleton VA, which inspired me to be a full-time surgeon. I felt very prepared coming out of residency.
How do you instill values and lessons learned during your UW experience to a new generation of surgical trainees?
I really like to challenge the residents to be thoughtful about what they are doing. Also, if you proved that you were ready to work independently, you were given supervised autonomy. I like to let residents operate with residents once they prove they can do a case with me. It’s something we were allowed to do at UW and it made me a better teacher and surgeon.
Share a fond memory.
One funny story: One day, when I was in the lab, I was meeting with residency applicants who were waiting to be interviewed. Ken Kudsk (a mentor of mine) peeks his head in the door, scans the room, and finds me in the very back where the food is. All the residents and applicants get very quiet. He points a finger and says “Come to my office” and then disappears. I make my way out of the room with everyone staring at my. I am wondering what I could have possibly done as a lab resident to get in trouble with Dr. K. I get to his office and he hands me a dress shirt and says “try it on”. I take off the shirt I am wearing, try the shirt on and it fits. That evening, Dr. Kudsk drops off two giant garbage bags full of dress shirts at my apartment. They didn’t fit him anymore, but they fit me just fine and I still wear some of them to this day!
What else are you up to?
I am a general surgeon in the Army Reserves, I commissioned during my 4th year of residency. I have deployed once to Afghanistan and will deploy again this summer. I have have a wife (Liz), a daughter (Diane, 13), a son (Leslie, 10) and a dog. We enjoy hiking. I was a bike commuter during residency so we only had one car. I have gone back to my UW roots and got rid of my car and now commute by bike to my current job in Portland.
Photos from Dr. Koopmann’s service during his 2017 deployment
