On Feb. 26, 2026, Dr. Lesly Dossett, associate professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at University of Michigan Health, presented as the 2026 Belzer Visiting Professor. She spoke about “Too Much Testing: Opportunities to Improve Value by Doing Less.”
During this lecture, Dr. Dossett explained the contribution of low-value preoperative testing to healthcare waste and its lack of association with improved patient outcomes. She also discussed the principles of de-implementation science and how they apply to reducing unnecessary surgical testing, key drivers of persistent low-value preoperative testing within surgical systems and the effectiveness of multi-component, system-aligned interventions in reducing unnecessary preoperative testing.
The Belzer Lecture series was started in 1997 by Dr. Layton Rikkers, Chair of the Department of Surgery from 1996-2008. This lecture series is named for Dr. Folkert “Fred” Belzer, Chair of the Department of Surgery from 1974-95, who passed away in 1996. Dr. Belzer was instrumental in the development of the UW Solution, an organ preservation solution that has become the global gold standard for use in organ transplant procedures. Dr. Rikkers established the Belzer lectureship to honor Dr. Belzer.