Jeffrey W Gander, MD
Pediatric General Surgery
Additional Locations
Bio & Overview
Jeffrey Gander, MD, was born in Tampa, FL, and grew up in Scotch Plains, NJ. He has a bachelor of science in biology from The College of New Jersey and attended Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ.
Dr. Gander trained in both general and pediatric surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. He joined UVA Health Children's in August 2014. He specializes in surgery for children and is particularly interested in minimally invasive approaches to surgery for childhood diseases. He has special expertise in chest wall deformities such as pectus excavatum, congenital diseases, including congenital diaphragmatic hernia, gastroschisis, and lung cysts, pediatric tumors, ovarian disorders, and hernias.
Dr. Gander runs the UVA Health Children's enhanced recovery after surgery program, which works to minimize the need for opiates after surgery and help children recover faster. He has brought many new minimally invasive techniques for surgery to UVA Health Children's. Dr. Gander has interests in increasing access to healthy food for children as a way to combat pediatric obesity. He has a large grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study this.
Dr. Gander is passionate about medical student education and is the Surgery Clerkship Director for the UVA School of Medicine.
Academic Information
- Department
- Surgery
- Academic Role
- Associate Professor
- Division
- Pediatric Surgery
- Research Interests
- Food Insecurity and Pediatric Obesity; Reduction in Opiate Use after Surgery
- Gender
- Male
- Languages
- Spanish, English
- Age Groups Seen
- Infants (0-2)
Children (2-12)
Adolescents (12-21)
- Primary Education
- University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
- Residency
- New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
- Fellowships
- Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian
- Certification
- American Board of Surgery (Pediatric Surgery), American Board of Surgery (Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery)
Highlights
Dr. Jeffrey Gander video profile
My name is Jeffrey Gander, and I'm a Pediatric Surgeon at the University of Virginia Children's Hospital. As a pediatric surgeon, I perform surgeries in the abdomen and the chest area. This can be things like appendicitis, inguinal hernias, or tumors and congenital diseases. When I perform procedures on children, I always try to perform them in the most minimally invasive way possible. This might be through laparoscopy through the abdomen, or thoracoscopy through the chest. I believe this helps them to recover quickly, to minimize their pain and get them back to school and play as quickly as possible. Children and their parents can expect to meet myself and our nursing staff before the surgery so that we can explain to them what will be happening the day that they will be undergoing their procedure. We'll also teach them how to take care of their child after the operation. At the University of Virginia, we work very well together as a team with the nursing staff and other medical specialties, so that you know your child will get the best team approach to their care being a parent myself, I find it humbling in parents entrusting me with the health and safety of their child during surgery. One of my main goals as a pediatric surgeon is to bring a sense of calm for the parents that might be undergoing one of the scariest moments of their, and their child's life.
Reviews
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