Linda W Martin, MD, MPH
Thoracic Surgery
Bio & Overview
Linda Martin, MD, joined the University of Virginia, School of Medicine faculty and the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center as an associate professor of surgery in 2016. Dr. Martin received her medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. Her surgical internship and residency training began at the University of Minnesota, and midway through she transferred to complete her training at the University of California, San Francisco. She then specialized in general thoracic surgery, with thoracic track fellowship training at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Martin also obtained a post-doctorate master’s degree in public health from the University of Texas, Houston.
As chief of thoracic surgery, Dr. Martin focuses on thoracic malignancies, but she also has extensive experience with benign lung and esophageal diseases. She is a strong advocate for lung cancer screenings and collaborates with physicians and healthcare providers from all disciplines to determine the best treatment strategy. She also helps encourage patients to quit smoking.
Dr. Martin has an interest in robotic surgery, which she was trained to perform through the Carolyn E. Reed Traveling Fellowship. Clinical trials research is another strong interest of hers. She strives to offer trials to any patients who may qualify, and she is heavily involved in design and implementation of clinical research through her work and leadership within several committees of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, an NCI sponsored group. She also has collaborated with anesthesiologists and nursing staff to develop enhanced recovery after thoracic surgery pathways to improve outcomes and shorten hospital stay for patients undergoing chest surgery.
Dr. Linda Martin has expertise treating the following additional conditions:
- Hiatial hernia
Academic Information
- Gender
- Female
- Languages
- English
- Age Groups Seen
- Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
- Primary Education
- University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
- Residency
- The University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio
- Certification
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery (Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery), American Board of Surgery (Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery)
- Appointment
- Section Chief - Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Highlights
Watch Dr. Martin's profile video
Hi, I'm Dr. Linda Martin. I'm a thoracic surgeon at the University of Virginia. My practice focuses on surgical diseases of the chest that don't involve the heart. For example, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, surgery for heart burn, or paraoesophageal hernias. Every patient has taught me things and increased my increased my interest in helping patients with cancer, but I've also had family members who've gone through cancer treatment and that certainly impacts your decision-making, your understanding of what people are going through. When we have a new patient coming to the clinic, we try to review their records ahead of time, make sure we have a handle on what we're dealing with. And at the visit, we'll review their history, their symptoms, their background medical problems, and then spend quite a bit of time talking about the problem at hand. What we know, what we don't know, what we need to do to further investigate it. We do try to work together as a team, and when we have someone coming in with a new diagnosis, it's not always completely under the expertise of one specialist. A lot of times, we'll need multiple specialists to get involved and help come up with the best treatment plan. In addition to that, we have a lot of innovative programs here that are really focused on helping the patients do as well as they possibly can with their diagnosis, or getting through their operation. And I think UVA has been very innovative and progressive in coming up with new ways to handle old problems.
Awards
- 2024 Virginia Business Magazine: Top Doctors in Cardiothoracic Surgery
- 2022, Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence
- 2019-2023, Patient Experience Award
- 2017, Carolyn Reed Award - Best scientific paper, Southern Thoracic Surgical Association
- 2015, Baltimore Magazine Top Doctor
- 2015, Best Practice Award, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health
- Carolyn E. Reed Travelling Fellowship Award to learn robotic surgery
- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship recipient, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
- Highest Departmental Honors (Department of Biology), University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California Regents Scholar
- UCLA Alumni Scholar
- Magna Cum Laude, University of California, Los Angeles
- Phi Beta Kappa, University of California, Los Angeles
Reviews
186 Patient Satisfaction Ratings
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