Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Oz at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012
Born	Mehmet Cengiz Öz (1960-06-11) June 11, 1960 (age 52) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Residence	Cliffside Park, New Jersey
Nationality	Turkish American
Education	Harvard University (1982) Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1986) MBA University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (1986) MD
Occupation	Cardiac surgeon, Talk Show Host (The Dr. Oz Show), Author, and Scientist
Years active	2002–present
Religion	Muslim
Spouse	Lisa Oz (1985–present)
Website
doctoroz.com

Mehmet Cengiz Oz (Turkish: Öz, pronounced [ˈøz], born June 11, 1960), also known as Dr. Oz, is a Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and television personality.

Oz first appeared on the The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004, and later on Larry King Live and other TV programs. In 2009, Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures launched The Dr. Oz Show, a daily television program focusing on medical issues and personal health.^[1]

Early life[link]

Mehmet Oz was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Suna and Mustafa Öz, they had emigrated from Konya Province, Turkey.^[2][3] Mustafa Öz was born in Bozkır, a small town in central Turkey. Mustafa Öz earned scholarships that allowed him to emigrate to the United States as a medical resident in 1955. Suna Öz (née Atabay), who comes from a wealthy İstanbul family, is the daughter of a pharmacist with Shapsug descent on her mother's side.^[3][4]

Oz was educated at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1982 he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.^[5] In 1986 he obtained a joint MD and MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Wharton School.^[6] He was awarded the Captain’s Athletic Award for leadership in college^[7] and was class president and then student body president during medical school.^[8]

Career[link]

Oz has been a professor at the Department of Surgery at Columbia University since 2001.^[9] He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.^[10] His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and health care policy. With his collaborators, he has authored over 400 research papers, book chapters and medical books and has received several patents. He performs around 250 heart operations annually.^[11]

Oz is the founder and chairman of HealthCorps, a non-profit organization that pays a small stipend to recent college graduates to spend two years in high schools mentoring students about health, nutrition, and fitness.

In 2009, Oz joined Jeffrey T. Arnold (founder of WebMD) as co-founder of Sharecare, Inc.,^[12] providing an interactive QA platform that allows industry experts to answer health-related questions.^[13]

Television, radio and movies[link]

Oz appeared as a health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five seasons.^[14] On the show, he addressed issues like diabetes^[15] and promoted resveratrol supplements,^[16] which he claimed were anti-aging. His Transplant! television series won both a Freddie^[17] and a Silver Telly award.^[18] He has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today show, Larry King Live and The View, as well as guest-hosting the Charlie Rose show. In addition, he served as medical director of Denzel Washington’s John Q.^[19] He currently hosts The Dr. Oz Show on television and a talk show on Sirius XM Radio.^[3] In January 2011, Oz premiered as part of a weekly show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called "Oprah's Allstars". In each episode, he, Suze Orman and Dr. Phil answer various questions about life, health and finance.

Author[link]

Oz authored six New York Times best sellers including YOU: The Owner’s Manual, YOU: The Smart Patient,YOU: On a Diet, YOU: Staying Young, YOU: Being Beautiful as well as the award winning Healing from the Heart. His new book, YOU: Having a Baby, was published by Free Press on December 1, 2009. He has a regular column in Esquire magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine and his article “Retool, Reboot, and Rebuild” was awarded the 2009 National Magazine Award for Personal Service.^[20]

Awards and honors[link]

Mehmet Oz at ServiceNation in 2008

Time magazine ranked Oz 44th on its list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2008^[21] and Esquire magazine placed him on its list of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.^[22] He was called a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum^[3] and one of “The Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni” by 02138 magazine.^[23] He won the Gross Surgical Research Scholarship.^[23] He was listed in “Doctors of the Year” by Hippocrates magazine and in “Healers of the Millennium” by Healthy Living magazine.^[24] Oz is annually listed in the Castle Connolly Guide of the top United States doctors,^[25] as well as other ranking groups.^{[citation needed]}

Other awards and honors include:

• Honored by the New York Open Center for "outstanding research in writing and communication (and for) bridging Western and alternative/complementary medicine", 2007
• Listed in Best Doctors of the Year, New York Magazine^[24]
• Turkish American of the Year, 1996^[24]
• Books for a Better America award for Healing from the Heart, 1999^[24]
• Robert E. Gross Research Scholarship, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, 1994–1996
• Research Award, American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery, 1991
• Blakemore Research Awards, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1988–1991
• One of the 500 most influential Muslims 2009^[26]
• 2010 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host
• 2011 Most Trusted Voice in Daytime Television,^[27]
• 2011 James Randi Educational Foundation Media Pigasus Award, which the foundation states is for promoting "nonsense." The foundation complained about Oz's support of energy medicine, faith healing and psychic mediums, among other controversial practices. Oz is the first person to receive a Pigasus Award two years in a row.^[28]
• 2011 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host
• 2011 The Independent Investigations Group IIG awarded The Truly Terrible Television award to Oz and Oprah Winfrey "for extraordinary contributions to America's scientific illiteracy and pervasive fear mongering."^[29]

Personal life[link]

Oz lives in Cliffside Park, New Jersey with his wife Lisa.^[30] They have been married since 1985^[31] and have four children. The second names of his children are Turkish: Daphne Nur, Arabella Sezen, Zoe Yasemin and Oliver Mustafa.

Oz is fluent in both English and Turkish.^[32] He is a holder of both Turkish and American citizenship, having served in the Turkish Army to retain his Turkish citizenship.^[33]

He grew up in a mixed Muslim environment where his father's family were conservatives who believed in the integration of Islam and government, and his mother's family were more secular Muslims. ^[34] He has been influenced by the mysticism of Sufi Muslims, ^[35] as well as the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish scientist, philosopher, and Christian theologian.^[36] He recently wrote in Spirituality and Health Magazine that "As I came into contact with Swedenborg's many writings, I began to understand Swedenborg's profound insights and how they applied directly to my life". He mentions Swedenborg's ideas that marriage lasts to eternity, everyone has a purpose in this world, God is love, and Swedenborg's answers to "Why do bad things happen?".^[37]

Oz is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. "When I meditate, I go to that place where truth lives," he said. "I can see what reality really is, and it is so much easier to form good relationships then."^[38]

In August 2010, Oz was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous polyp in the colon during a routine colonoscopy^[39] which was performed as part of his show. Oz said that the procedure likely saved his life.^[40]

Controversy[link]

Arsenic in apple juice[link]

In September 2011, Oz drew criticism for a show focusing on the dangers of arsenic in apple juice. After learning about possible contaminants in apple juice in America, Oz's medical unit investigated arsenic levels in popular juice brands. Oz hired an independent toxicology laboratory, EMSL, and found arsenic levels in some samples to be above the limit U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows in drinking water.^[41] A school district took apple juice off its menu after the show.^[42] The FDA said "there is currently no evidence to suggest a public health risk"; something Dr. Oz had previously disclaimed.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Real Age drug marketing[link]

Oz is a spokesman and advisor for the website RealAge.com, which The New York Times has criticized for its pharmaceutical marketing practices. The site solicits medical information from visitors to determine a visitor’s biological age and then uses the visitor's medical profile for pharmaceutical marketing purposes. As The Times reporter explained the significance of this fact: "While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing."^[47]

Integrative medicine[link]

Oz is a supporter of integrative medicine, combining conventional medical treatments with alternative therapies such as hypnosis, prayer, and energy healing.^[48][2] Oz's wife, Lisa, is described is a master of Reiki, a form of energy healing.^[49] Some conventional medical practitioners allege that Oz is promoting unproven and harmful alternative medicine practices on The Oprah Winfrey Show^[50] and elsewhere.^[48][51][52] Oz, however, has stated that these cures are merely to be considered, and are not to be used as replacements for conventional medicine, which he says is sometimes the best option.

Homeopathy[link]

In an interview with O: The Oprah Magazine, Oz described homeopathy to be "worth considering" as an adjunct therapy for headaches,^[53] despite the fact that homeopathy has not been shown to have any useful medicinal effect,^[54] and that there are no homeopathic remedies approved by the Food and Drug Administration for relieving headaches.^[55]

John Edward[link]

Oz was criticized for featuring John Edward, a psychic who claims to be able to communicate with the spirits of dead people, in an episode of Oz's TV show that aired March 15, 2011,. Edward's critics have described him as a fraud and a con-artist,^[56][57] but Oz seemed impressed by Edward's performance, proclaiming that Edward "seems authentic, not at all like a charlatan".^[58] The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) lambasted Oz for endorsing Edward, whom the JREF called a "huckster" who "pretends to talk to dead people".^[59]

Books and publications[link]

• YOU: Having A Baby, The Owner's Manual from Conception to Delivery and More, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2009.
• YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2008, ISBN 1-4165-7234-1.
• YOU: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2007, ISBN 0-7432-9256-1.
• YOU: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2006, ISBN 0-7432-9254-5.
• YOU: The Smart Patient: An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatment, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2006, ISBN 0-7432-9301-0.
• YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2005, ISBN 0-06-076531-3.
• YOU: Breathing Easy. Meditation and Breathing Techniques to Help You Relax, Refresh, and Revitalize, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz, 2008.
• Complementary and Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine: Clinical Handbook, by Richard A. Stein (Editor), Mehmet, M.D. Oz (Editor), 2004, ISBN 1-58829-186-3.
• Healing from the Heart: A Leading Surgeon Combines Eastern and Western Traditions to Create the Medicine of the Future, by Mehmet Öz, Ron Arias, Dean Ornish, 1999, ISBN 0-452-27955-0.
• Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, by Mehmet C. Oz, 2010, ISBN 1-61737-400-8.
• Numerous editorials in TIME, Newsweek, O Magazine, Esquire Magazine, and The New England Journal of Medicine

Television shows[link]

• Second Opinion with Dr Oz on Discovery during the 2003–04 season ^[24]
• Life Line on Discovery Health
• Daily Rounds on Discovery Health
• The Truth About Food on Discovery Health
• Live Transplant on Discovery Health
• National Body Challenge on Discovery Health
• You: On a Diet on Discovery Health
• Ask Dr. Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show
• AccentHealth on Turner Private Networks—a health-themed newsmagazine program designed for viewing in doctor's offices.
• The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
• The Dr. Oz Show, Syndicated
• Your Life A to Z with Dr. Oz^[60]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Brown, Heidi, "Oprah Loves This Doctor", Forbes magazine, August 4, 2008

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mehmet Oz

• Official website Dr. Oz Show
• Columbia University Department of Surgery profile