A surgical pioneer and visionary developer of the surgeon-scientist program
Upon completion of his medical degree, Dr. Bernard Langer completed postgraduate surgical training in Toronto, Houston and Boston. He joined the Toronto General Hospital as a consultant surgeon in 1963, and was appointed head of the division of general surgery in 1972. During his 17-year tenure as division head, he established a recruitment methodology which promoted the development of subspecialty areas within general surgery with equal emphasis on clinical care, teaching and research. In addition to his own specialties of HPB surgery, surgical oncology and ultimately transplantation, other areas such as colorectal, breast, and endocrine surgery were developed. He helped to develop the largest liver transplant program in Canada and the largest living donor liver transplant program in North America.