Dr. William P. Schecter is Professor of Clinical Surgery at the UCSF Division of Surgery at San Francisco General Hospital.  He received an A.B. in Political Science at Harpur College (Binghamton, New York) in 1968, his M.D. at the Albany Medical College (New York State) in 1972 and completed a Rotating Internship at the SFGH (1972-1973).  His subsequent education included a residency in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a residency in Surgery at UCSF and a Fellowship in Hand Surgery. 

In 1980 Dr. Schecter joined the UCSF faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery. He then served as the Chief of Surgery at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center, Pago Pago, American Samoa (1981-1983) and as a Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Natal, Durban, RSA (1983-1984).  Dr. Schecter returned to UCSF in 1984. Dr. Schecter was appointed Chief of Surgery at the San Francisco General Hospital and Vice-Chair of Surgery at UCSF in 1993.  He served as Chief of Surgery at SFGH and as Vice-Chair of Surgery at UCSF from 1993-2008.

Between January 1 and June 30, 2004, Dr. Schecter spent a Sabbatical at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, studying civilian hospital response to mass casualty events.  In July and August 2006, Dr. Schecter served in the Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed, Israel, caring for casualties from the 2006 Lebanon war. 

Dr. Schecter has served as President of the San Francisco Surgical Society, President of the Northern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Governor of the American College of Surgeons, President of the Board of Directors of Operation Access (a non-profit corporation providing uncompensated surgical services to the uninsured) and Vice-President of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association.  In 2004, he was elected as a Director of the American Board of Surgery. 

Dr. Schecter's clinical interests involve the surgery of poverty: trauma, soft tissue infections related to drug use and alcoholism, advanced malignancy related to poor access to health care and the surgical treatment of HIV infected patients.

See Dr. Schecter's Full CV