Cassandra Villegas, M.D., MPH

Surgery

Locations and Appointments

Insurances Accepted

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Personal Statement

Whether working locally or internationally, I believe that the best medicine focuses on the patient, not the disease.  To that end, I aim to provide comprehensive surgical care for my patients, believing that informed patients can make the best decisions regarding surgery and its options.  My passion for education – for both patients and trainees – places a priority on ensuring that it is the “right surgery, for the right patient, at the right time.”

Biographical Info

Cassandra Villegas, MD MPH is an Attending Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medical Center in the Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical, and Acute Care Surgery.  She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, where she was a President’ Scholar and received the Teaching Excellence award.  She remained at Stanford University as an instructor and doing neuroscience research before joining Teach for America to teach high school science in Los Angeles Unified School District for five years.   There, she won the Most Inspirational Teacher Award before leaving education to attend Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  As a medical student, she completed her MPH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, focusing on data outcomes research while diversifying her medical training at Guy’s, King’s, and St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, England as well as the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.

She continued her outcomes research in trauma and health disparities before starting her general surgery residency at the University of Arizona.  While there, she took 1st Place in the American College of Surgeons Resident Paper Competition and earned the American Association for the Surgery Resident Scholarship for her work her in trauma outcomes.  She received Resident Educator of the Year twice, and was Awarded Resident of the Year at the Southern Arizona Veteran’s Hospital.  At the conclusion of her residency, she was awarded the Charles Putnam Chief Resident Teaching Award.

Dr. Villegas then completed her Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, where she now serves as faculty and continues her research interest in trauma, emergency surgery, and global health surgery.  She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Easter Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Surgical Outcomes Society.

Board Certifications
American Board of Surgery
Clinical Expertise
Critical Care
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Stomach Surgery
Laparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery
Gastrointestinal Surgery
Surgery, General
Hernia Repair
Appendectomy
Spleen Surgery
Hernia Surgery
Laparoscopic Surgery
Pancreas and Spleen Surgery
Gallbladder Surgery
Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery
Minimal Access Surgery
Minor General Surgery
Incisional Hernia
Inguinal Hernia
Abdominal Surgery
Adult Trauma
Removal of Gallbladder
Right Groin Hernia
Diverticulitis
Umbilical Hernia
Left Groin Hernia
Trauma and Critical Care
Cholecystectomy
Small Bowel Resection
Ventral Hernia Repair
Major General Surgery
Repair, Hernia
Languages
English
Education 
  • M.P.H.
    Columbia University, School of Public Health
    2017
  • M.D.
    The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    2011
  • B.S.
    Stanford University
    2000
Appointments 
  • Assistant Attending Surgeon
    NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
  • Assistant Professor of Surgery
    Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University

Relationships and collaborations with for-profit and not-for profit organizations are of vital importance to our faculty because these exchanges of scientific information foster innovation. As experts in their fields, WCM physicians and scientists are sought after by many organizations to consult and educate. WCM and its faculty make this information available to the public, thus creating a transparent environment.

No External Relationships Reported