Andrew McIvor, MD FACS

Summit Surgical Specialists,
McKenzie Willamette Medical Center, Springfield, Oregon

Experienced general surgery with a caring touch

My Practice

A wide range of general surgical procedures

What is general surgery? It is the original surgical speciality from which others spun off - urology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, cardiovascular, plastics, and more - as knowledge grew and surgeons needed to specialize. Now general surgeons concentrate on the abdomen - hernias, colon, stomach, intestine, gallbladder - as well as endocrine surgery, trauma surgery, breast cancer, skin cancers, and a wide range of other procedures. General surgeons typically train for five years after medical school, and many graduates go on for further speciality training.

Background

Dr. McIvor comes from a lineage of physicians and knew early on he also wanted to become a doctor. His great-grandfather and grandfather were doctors in Oakland, CA, and another grandfather was dean of the Stanford Medical School when it was located in San Francisco. He graduated from the Wake Forest Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, in 1988, and from general surgical residency at the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY in 1993. He has treated thousands of patients over the years, with a personal and caring attitude. His approach: treat every patient with compassion and understanding, listen closely to render the best diagnosis, and bring his best technical skill to the surgical problem.

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Brief Procedure List

Dr. McIvor performs open and laparoscopic surgery, but not robotic. However, he is joined by excellent robotic surgeons in the Summit Surgical Specialists practice group.

Hernias

Appendectomy

Intestinal surgery, including colon and stomach

Hemorroids

Gallbladder

Soft tissue, including masses and infections

Skin grafts

Thyroid and parathyroid

Emergency surgery

Summit Surgical Specialists

Dr. McIvor practices at Summit Surgical Specialists, a group of surgeons serving McKenzie Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, OR. This group does the wide spectrum of surgery including vascular, intestinal, hiatal hernia, advanced robotic, rectal surgery, and more. Other members include Drs. Joe Viramontes, Tom Stites, Scott Russi, Maile Parker and Brian McVay. They are joined by gastroenterologists Judith Csanky, Anna Vertkin and Hsichao Chow.

The Importance of Nutrition

One thing that I have observed in 30 years in medicine is how how many diseases seem to originate from our lifestyle. Diseases like obesity, high blood pressure and cancer often have their origins in how we eat and exercise. There is even a new American College of Lifestyle Medicine, which estimates that 80% of all healthcare spending is tied to the treatment of conditions rooted in poor lifestyle choices. Nutrition is one of my interests, and I try to follow Michael Pollan's advice - "Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants."
A few years ago I started a garden in our little suburban plot, and each summer and fall I harvest apples, lemons, plums, peaches, blueberries, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and more. I find great joy in tending these plants, and feel they are nourishing my family and I, bringing us closer to the earth, and aiding our health at the same time.

Writing

I have long dabbled in writing. In fact, my first job after college was as a newspaper reporter. I have written essays and few scientific papers, but my interest now is poetry. I am known in my poetry group as the fatalistic curmudgeon. Here are a few samples.

Solastalgia

Have you heard of solastalgia -

of standing on a bluff in a warm breeze,

waves rolling gently over the sand

the distant laugh of a child

the glint of dolphins undulating south

under a sunset that paints

such pastels on quilted clouds

that couples stand hushed at their luck

but you, cursed and literal,

can't help but think

that this sky is so beautifully scarlet

from wildfire smoke

that the dolphins are heavy with mercury

and confused by sonar

that the child stepped in tar

further up the beach than normal

thanks to melting glaciers.

Solastalgia is a new word that means

there is no reason now

to quit smoking.

Poet's Morning

New pencil, creation's laser;

coffee, levering hand;

desk, magic carpet;

window, to fall's melancholy;

sleeping dog, serenity;

footsteps upstairs, tribe;

photos, the years.

Facing paper, heart and soul.

Out Of The Gyre

Walking a windy northwest beach

I came upon the tip

of a mutant iceberg,

a plastic bag,

escapee from the gyre,

useful and simple assassin,

Anthropocene's spokeman

of single use and who cares,

tossed by the high tide and half buried -

I wanted to walk by

this problem which is

simply too big

but seagulls and sandpipers

were watching me.

I bent over and pulled

with both hands.

Rush Hour

Traffic was stopped

and out of the park

a young squirrel skittered

across the opposite empty lanes -

first foolish adventure -

tail twitching,

exploring recklessly to the median barrier,

its journey then blocked

by a concrete wall

cigarette butts and

broken plastic...

the little fellow looked

this was and that,

ran in confused circles,

found no bark to climb.

The light turned green so

autos like noxious panzers

began their parade;

as our side advanced

I looked in the mirror, hoping, praying...

I saw no brake lights,

only four legs pointing to the sky.

A recollection from my grandfather

Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb. 21, 2001, about an event from 1934

Robert J. McIvor, MD, 1898-1975, was a long time family practitioner in Oakland, CA. He wrote an amusing piece about a very dramatic event that happened as he just started practice as a young doctor. I was able to resurrect it for the medical audience via a JAMA article in 2001.

Contact Me

Office: Summit Surgical Specialists,

960 N. 16th Street, Suite 200, Springfield, OR 97477

541-345-2205

summitsurgeons.com

Hospital: McKenzie Willamette Medical Center

1460 G Street, Springfield, OR. 97477

541-726-4400

mckweb.com