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Nicolas Contreras
( out of 72 reviews )

Nicolas Contreras, MD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Huntsman Cancer Institute - Cancer Hospital South

Salt Lake City
801-646-4111

  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery

    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus

    • Lung Cancer

    • Mediastinal Tumors

    • Chest wall Reconstruction

    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Patient Rating

    4.9 /5
    ( out of 72 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    March 28, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    He explained everything about my condition in detail. and took time to answer my questions. Was very satisfied with his recommendations.

    March 27, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Very knowledgeable and willing to listen! I considered going to a different hospital where my past surgeon works but Dr Contreras has exceeded my expectations as far as knowledge, understanding and explaining everything so it's easy to understand. He's also very nice which helps ease my anxiety.

    March 14, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Contreras was great and went over everything with me to make sure I knew my options.

    March 14, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Awesome interactions and I felt very comfortable with him and his staff!

    February 28, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    I have absolute confidence in the care he provided. His compassion and care for me as a patient and as a person were obvious during every visit.

    February 27, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    When his staff and him spoke to me, I was very with them. And also, I trusted them.

    February 27, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    I felt that Dr. Contreras listened to my concerns. He explained in detail about what the options were which was very helpful to me. He was very kind and helpful.

    February 21, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Doctor Contreras is professional, knowledgeable, and helpful.

    February 08, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Contreras was exceptional along with his nurse with all aspects of my appointment.

    See More Patient Comments

  • Nicolas Contreras, MD, is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in robotic thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology, esophageal surgery, complex esophageal reconstruction, and lung transplantation.

    Dr. Contreras' clinical specialties:

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Robotic Thoracic Surgery

    • Benign and Malignant Diseases of the Esophagus

    • Lung Cancer

    • Mediastinal Tumors

    • Chest wall Reconstruction

    • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras' research areas of interest:

    • Esophageal Cancer

    • Thoracic Oncology

    • Lung Transplantation

    • Bioethics

    Dr. Contreras graduated top of his class at Gonzaga Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, majoring in Biochemistry, then received his MD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He continued at the Mayo Clinic to complete his General Surgery Residency. During his education and residency, Dr. Contreras received multiple awards recognizing his excellence in clinical and surgical care, including awards as the top surgical intern of his class, best overall surgical resident, and Chief Resident Teacher of the Year. He completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ of Utah.

    From Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Contreras speaks English and Spanish. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, traveling, and SCUBA diving in his free time. He has also dedicated part of his career to working with underserved communities in Central and South America.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery -Assistant Professor (Clinical)
    Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery
    Board Certification
    American Board of Surgery
    National Board of Medical Examiners

    Education history

    Fellowship Cardiothoracic Surgery - Ï㽶ÊÓƵ of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Fellow
    Chief Resident General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Chief Resident
    Residency General Surgery - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science Resident
    Professional Medical Medicine - Mayo Medical School M.D.
    Undergraduate Biochemistry - Gonzaga Ï㽶ÊÓƵ B.S.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Pulmonary Segmentectomy: Does Virtual Reality Have Bite? Ann Thorac Surg, 115(5), 1255-1256. ()
    2. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Follow the Leader? Can Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Follow Non-small Cell Lung Cancer's Lead With Immunotherapy? Ann Thorac Surg, 114(5), e361. ()
    3. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Systemic Disease and the Impact on Esophageal Carcinoma Management: The Big Picture. Ann Thorac Surg. ()
    4. Contreras N, Litle VR (2022). Invited Commentary: COVID-19 and Cancer Casualty: Managing Esophageal Cancer. J Am Coll Surg, 235(2), 184-185. ()
    5. Liu S, Contreras N, Krezalek MA, Abd El Aziz MA, Merchea A, Kelley SR, Behm K (2022). Robotic transanal minimally invasive surgery: a single institutional experience. Updates Surg, 74(3), 1011-1016. ()
    6. Krezalek MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Parker ME, Kelley SR, Behm KT (2020). Hybrid Robotic Transanal Minimally Invasive Surgery Approach to Large and Low-Lying Rectal Polyps. Dis Colon Rectum, 63(7), 1001-1006. ()
    7. Contreras N, Jakub JW (2019). The achilles heel of minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection: Seroma formation. Am J Surg, 219(4), 696-700. ()
    8. Hernandez MC, Khasawneh M, Contreras-Peraza N, Lohse C, Stephens D, Kim BD, Zielinski MD (2019). Vaccination and splenectomy in Olmsted County. Surgery, 166(4), 556-563. ()
    9. Khasawneh MA, Contreras-Peraza N, Hernandez MC, Lohse C, Jenkins DH, Zielinski MD (2019). Outcomes after splenectomy in children: a 48-year population-based study. Pediatr Surg Int, 35(5), 575-582. ()
    10. Contreras N, Joyce DD, Van Handel AC, Farley DR (2015). Video voiceover feedback: economised surgical skills training. Med Educ, 49(11), 1146. ()