Faculty
Scott H. Kurtzman, M.D.
Program Director, General Surgery Residency Program / Chairman, Department of Surgery
Dr. Kurtzman joined the Waterbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program in the position of Program Director in 2005. Dr. Kurtzman earned a B.A. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, a MS from Roswell Park Memorial Institute, State University of New York and his M.D. from Albany Medical College of Union University. During his general surgery residency, Dr. Kurtzman was a Medical Staff Fellow, Surgery Branch, at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey. He then completed a Surgical Oncology Fellowship in 1990 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Dr. Kurtzman holds an academic appointment as Professor of Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut.
Dr. Kurtzman was instrumental in the creation of the Breast Fellowship accreditation process through his leadership role of the Society of Surgical Oncology’s Training Committee. He has also been involved in the Executive Committees of the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). He serves as Governor-at –Large for the American College of Surgeons.
In the Waterbury community Dr. Kurtzman assembled a multidisciplinary breast conference and led the group in attaining accreditation through the NAPBC. Dr. Kurtzman has authored many peer-reviewed publications and numerous editorials, book chapters and other invited publications on cancer research and surgical oncology.
Peter Zdankiewicz M.D.
Surgical Residency Program Faculty
Associate Program Director
Trauma Medical Director
Surgical Residency Program Teaching Faculty Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Dr. Zdankiewicz received his B.A. in Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and his M.D. at The University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his General Surgery Residency at St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, Connecticut in 2000.
Dr. Zdankiewicz is a member of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma.
David C. Knight, M.D., FACS
Associate Program Director
Associate Program Director Chief, Department of Surgery & General Surgery Section, Waterbury Hospital
Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgery University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Dr. Knight earned a B.A. from Harvard and his M.B., B.Ch from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He completed his General Surgery residency at Waterbury Hospital in 1986.
Dr. Knight is founder and President of “Loupes Around the World” a charitable foundation which provides loupes to surgeons in developing countries who do not have the means to obtain them. He has also developed a recycling program (“Recoup The Loupes”) through which surgeons are able to donate their old loupes and the parts are then used to create new loupes for designated surgeons at a significantly reduced cost. As of September 2012, “Loupes Around the World” has provided loupes to over 190 surgeons in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.loupesaroundtheworld.org
Dr. Knight travels to JFK Hospital in Liberia twice a year on a charity surgical mission with the HEARTT Foundation (Health Education and Relief Through Teaching). Two residents accompany Dr. Knight for one of these two week missions each year.
Dr. Knight received Waterbury Hospital’s 2011 Humanitarian of the Year Award. He was recognized at the hospital’s Annual Gala on November 19, 2011.
Dr. Knight maintains membership in numerous surgical societies and his practice includes a variety of general surgery cases.
Zhongqiu Zhang M.D. Ph.D.
Surgical Residency Program Faculty
Clinical Instructor
Surgical Residency Program Teaching Faculty, Waterbury Hospital
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D., Department of Pathology from the Medical College of Ohio and his M.D. from Capital Medical University in Beijing, P.R. China. He completed his General Surgery Residency at Waterbury Hospital in 2009. Dr. Zhang then completed a Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr. Zhang is a member of the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the American Association for Cancer Research.
Zhongqiu John Zhang, MD, PhD, is a Staff member in the Department of Surgery at Alliance Medical Group and Waterbury Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and by the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Dr. Zhang’s specialty interests include all aspects of colorectal cancer and polyps, molecular genetics of colorectal cancer, functional colorectal and anal problems including constipation and incontinence, perianal and perineal infections, mucosal ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease, diverticulitis, pelvic pouch procedures for mucosal ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis, sphincter-saving operations, surgery for carcinoma of the colon and rectum re-operative abdominopelvic surgery.
Dr. Zhang earned his medical degree from Capital Medical University in Beijing China. He completed his general surgery residency at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut and has completed a fellowship in the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio. Dr. Zhang has an extensive clinical, research and teaching background. He earned his PhD in cancer genetics from the Medical College of Ohio in 1999. He is a member of a number of medical societies, including the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Colorectal Surgeons, and American Association for Cancer Research.
Dr. Zhang is actively involved in a series of teaching assignments at the University of Connecticut. He also collaborates with researchers at the University of Connecticut Cancer Center on basic science research involving colorectal cancer and is currently participating in a National Cancer Institute project on “Identification of Biomarkers for Predicting Response to Preoperative Chemotherapy in Patients with Rectal Cancer”.
Dr. Zhang is the only colorectal surgeon to practice in the Greater Waterbury Area. In close collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Zhang has been running the endorectal and endoanal ultrasound lab. He has acquired the first anal manometry and biofeedback equipment in Waterbury Hospital. Another first is the center acquiring the defecography equipment in Department of Radiology at Waterbury Hospital.
Juan Diego Holguin, MD
Surgical Residency Program Faculty
Clinical Instructor
Director, The Comprehensive Weight Management Center
Juan Diego Holguin, MD, specializes in minimally invasive, robotic and weight loss surgery.
Dr. Holguin graduated Magma Cum Laude from Western Connecticut State University and received his medical degree in 2009 from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at Waterbury Hospital in 2014.
Dr. Holguin then went on to completed a fellowship in Advanced GI Minimally Invasive at Jackson South Community Hospital in Miami, Florida, focusing on robotic and weight loss surgery.
A native of Colombia, Dr. Holguin, came to the United States as a child and grew up in Norwalk with his extended family. Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Holguin maintains strong ties to his extended family and believes in helping patients improve their health through surgical weight loss.
Dr. Holguin hobbies include soccer and lacrosse. A former college soccer star, he plays in a local adult league.
“I enjoy helping patients who have medical issues related to weight. When they lose weight they basically eliminate a lot of their medial issues and that helps them and live better lives. ”
– Dr. Holguin.
Gregory M. Ricketts, MD
Dr. Gregory Ricketts specializes in colon and rectal surgery.
Dr. Ricketts completed his medical training at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and the New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. He completed his residency training in general surgery at Waterbury Hospital, and a colon and rectal fellowship at the Colon and Rectal Clinic of Orlando in Orlando, FL.
Elizabeth C. Riordan, M.D., FACS
Surgical Residency Program Faculty
Clinical Instructor
Dr. Elizabeth C. Riordan is board certified in general surgery and specializes in breast surgery.
Dr. Riordan received her medical degree from the University of Connecticut Medical School, in Farmington, Conn. and her residency training in general surgery at SUNY at Stony Brook, NY.
Dr. Riordan has been practicing medicine since 1996. She is a member of the American Board of Surgery, the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and the American Society of Breast Surgeons.