Thomas J Watson, MD

Thomas J Watson, MD, FACS is the System Chief of Thoracic Surgery for Corewell Health, and the Medical Director of Thoracic Surgery for the Corewell Medical Group. He specializes in surgery of the chest and upper abdomen, including disorders of the lungs, esophagus, stomach, chest wall, and mediastinum. Dr. Watson utilizes an array of surgical techniques via endoscopic, minimally invasive, and open approaches. His expertise extends to the diagnosis and management of esophageal motility disorders and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well as advanced endoscopic procedures to treat early esophageal cancers.Dr. Watson earned his Bachelor of Science from Stanford University followed by his MD degree from the School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1988. He went onto complete residency training in Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery, as well as a fellowship dedicated to Esophageal Surgery, all at USC. He took his first faculty position at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York in 1996. He remained there for nearly 20 years, ascending the academic ranks to become a Professor of Surgery and the Chief of Thoracic Surgery. He also served as Program Director for the Surgery Residency and Associate Program Director for the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at that institution. In 2016, following a national search, he was recruited by MedStar Health in Washington, DC and Maryland to be the Chair of Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery for their 10-hospital system, as well as the Chair of Surgery at the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Professor of Surgery at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Following another national search, Dr. Watson joined Corewell Health 2021 as an internationally recognized leader in thoracic and esophageal surgery.Dr. Watson has received numerous awards and recognitions. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society during his undergraduate years at Stanford, and the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society while at USC. He was the Valedictorian of his medical school class as well as both the student body and senior class President. He has been recognized multiple times in Castle Connolly's 'America's Top Doctors' and 'America's Top Doctors for Cancer.' He has published over 125 peer-reviewed articles and more than 30 book chapters on all aspects of thoracic and foregut disease, and continues to speak extensively at regional, national, and international meetings on the full spectrum of thoracic surgical topics.Dr. Watson is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Western Thoracic Surgical Association, the Eastern Cardiothoracic Surgical Society, the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the General Thoracic Surgical Club, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the international Society for Diseases of the Esophagus, the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery, and the American Foregut Society.At Corewell Health, Dr. Watson leads that thoracic surgery program, working closely with partners in related disciplines across the system, to provide compassionate, world-class, and cutting-edge care of the highest order to the people of Southeast Michigan and surrounding communities.