Department of Surgery

The Department of Surgery is responsible for basic education in surgery at the Faculty of Medicine. Teaching is organised in general and gastrointestinal surgery, orthopedics and traumatology, hand surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, plastic surgery, urology and physiatry. The Department conducts active research operations and is responsible for postgraduate research education in the field of surgery.

The Department of Surgery operates in facilities provided by the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa at the Meilahti, Töölö, Jorvi and Peijas hospitals and the Meilahti Triangle Hospital. The Department conducts seamless cooperation with the hospital district. In addition to treating people living within the actual hospital district, the hospital district carries the nationwide responsibility for treating patients requiring transplantation surgery. Some nationwide responsibilities have also been centralised in the field of plastic surgery, including the treatment of patients with severe burns, cleft lip and palate patients, as well as patients requiring craniofacial surgery and sex reassignment surgery. The specialty of Orthopaedics and Traumatology has a national responsibility for the multi-professional treatment of pelvic sarcoma.

The Swedish-language teaching unit at the Department has the nationwide responsibility to provide basic education in Swedish.

Education

Basic education in medicine includes advanced studies, which can be completed at the Department of Surgery in the form of a research project or a study project. Presentations on research projects are given annually. To many students, the commencement of an advanced research project has served as an impetus to writing their doctoral dissertation.

Advanced studies completed as a study project consist of a one-term seminar where various surgical fields are reviewed and examined. Both alternatives include a written piece of scholarly work.

Research

The Department of Surgery has a long-standing research tradition with active operations in all specialisations. On average, some 400 medical papers completed at the Department are published each year, most of them in international journals of a high standard.

Most of the research is conducted by research groups in projects aiming for the completion of doctoral dissertations. The groups also accept undergraduate students as members. In addition to research careers, a research education is a solid foundation for physicians and other professionals in the service of both society and the private sector. Basic research is primarily conducted at Biomedicum (the University of Helsinki). Applied clinical research, in turn, is primarily conducted at the university hospital.

If you have a general interest in research, please contact the research coordinator or the research project liaisons directly.

Publications

Postgraduate research education is the responsibility of the programme coordinators of each individual discipline.

Units
  • Gastrointestinal surgery
  • Hand surgery
  • Orthopedics and traumatology
  • Plastic surgery
  • Cardiothoracic surgery
  • Urology
  • Vascular surgery
  • General surgery
Contact details

Head of de­part­ment

professor Ilkka Helenius
ilkka.helenius@helsinki.fi

Deputy head of de­part­ment

professor Malin Sund
malin.sund@helsinki.fi 

Pro­gramme co­ordin­at­ors

Gastrointestinal surgery
professor Pauli Puolakkainen, pauli.puolakkainen@hus.fi
Department of Surgery, Service Centre
Stenbäckinkatu 9 A, PO Box 440
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 1410

Hand surgery
docent Jorma Ryhänen, jorma.ryhanen@hus.fi 
Department of Surgery, Meilahti Bridge Hospital
Haartmaninkatu 4, PO Box 320
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 536 5064 

Orthopedics and traumatology
professor Ilkka Helenius, ilkka.helenius@helsinki.fi 
Department of Surgery, Meilahti Bridge Hospital
Haartmaninkatu 4, PO Box 320
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 442 2881

Plastic surgery
professor Virve Koljonen, virve.koljonen@hus.fi 
Department of Surgery, Park Hospital
Stenbäckinkatu 11, PO Box 281
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 1980

Cardiothoracic surgery
professor Karl Lemström, karl.lemstrom@hus.fi
Department of Surgery, Meilahti Tower Hospital
Haartmaninkatu 4, PO Box 340
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 2411

Urology
professor Antti Rannikko, antti.rannikko@helsinki.fi 
Department of Surgery, Meilahti Tower Hospital
Haartmaninkatu 4, PO Box 340
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 0041

Vascular surgery
professor Maarit Venermo, maarit.venermo@hus.fi
Department of Surgery, Meilahti Tower Hospital
Haartmaninkatu 4, PO Box 340
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 2117

General surgery
professor Malin Sund, malin.sund@helsinki.fi 
Department of Surgery, Service Centre
Stenbäckinkatu 9A, PO Box 440
000290 HUS
Tel: +358 50 427 4098