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Dr. Mehmet Oz’s career moved from cardiothoracic surgery and academic medicine to health advocacy, daytime television, electoral politics and federal leadership. Its major turning points include the launch and end of The Dr. Oz Show, scrutiny of a 2003 research presentation and criticism of health promotions on television.
How Dr. Oz began his career in medicine
Oz earned an undergraduate degree at Harvard and a joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton, according to his current Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services biography. In 2025 testimony, he recalled developing a nutrition course while in medical school and beginning his career at Columbia University.
He became a cardiothoracic surgeon and academic at Columbia. In testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Oz described his work on mechanical hearts and MitraClip, which he characterized as a minimally invasive valve intervention. Those descriptions are his account of his career. The Associated Press reported that he stopped performing surgeries in 2018.
HealthCorps and the move toward public health
Oz founded HealthCorps in 2003. CMS describes it as a national nonprofit that places recent graduates in high schools to teach diet, fitness and mental resilience. In written testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee, Oz said the organization had reached more than 60 schools in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and had impacted 300,000 students and nearly 600,000 community members. Those are figures he reported in his testimony, not independently updated measurements.
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His advocacy work overlapped with a growing media profile, giving him a platform to discuss prevention beyond the clinic.
Second Opinion, Oprah Winfrey and daytime television
From an early program to a national platform
Oz’s written Senate Commerce testimony says the Discovery Channel aired his early talk show, Second Opinion, in 2003. He described Oprah Winfrey appearing on the program and subsequently inviting him onto her show. He dates the idea for his own program to 2007.
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The Dr. Oz Show launched in the United States in fall 2009. The show ran for 13 seasons and ended in January 2022, according to the Associated Press. Oz also built a publishing career around health and wellness, including YOU: The Owner’s Manual and other books in the YOU series. CMS says he authored eight New York Times bestsellers.
A 2003 research-presentation dispute
A professional dispute arose during Oz’s surgical career. The Washington Post reported that an abstract led by Oz was withdrawn shortly before a 2003 American Association for Thoracic Surgery meeting after questions about whether the data supported the planned presentation. The report said he was instructed not to submit abstracts for the next two annual meetings.
Oz’s campaign described the matter as an academic disagreement that followed an expansion of the patient group. The Washington Post characterized the dispute as a question of methodology and whether the presentation matched the accepted abstract; it did not report a finding that data had been fabricated. Then-AATS president Fred A. Crawford called the withdrawal “a technical issue and not in any way related to fabrication of data or dishonesty,” according to the newspaper.
Television criticism and consumer-protection scrutiny
Oz’s prominent TV role also brought criticism. The Associated Press reported that the show promoted products of questionable medical value and drew complaints that it blurred the line between medical advice and advertising.
In 2014, Oz testified before a Senate subcommittee at a hearing on deceptive weight-loss advertising. He said his and Oprah Winfrey’s likenesses had been used without authorization to sell products, and described a 2009 civil suit and a reporting initiative launched in 2012. At the hearing, he said the initiative had received 35,000 complaints; that count was his testimony, not an independently audited total. The hearing record is available from the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
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Oz ran as a Republican for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022. He won a closely contested primary but lost the general election to Democrat John Fetterman, the Associated Press reported.
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CMS’s current leadership biography identifies Oz as the agency’s Administrator and as Professor Emeritus at NY Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center. His move into federal administration marks another change in public role: from surgeon and television communicator to the official leading the agency responsible for Medicare and Medicaid.
Quick Recap
Key milestones at a glance
- 2003: Founded HealthCorps; Second Opinion aired on the Discovery Channel.
- 2007: Oz says he developed the idea for his own television show.
- 2009: The Dr. Oz Show launched in the United States.
- 2014: Testified at a Senate hearing on deceptive weight-loss advertising.
- 2018: The Associated Press reported that he stopped performing surgeries.
- January 2022: The Dr. Oz Show ended after 13 seasons.
- 2022: Lost the Pennsylvania Senate general election to John Fetterman.
- Current CMS biography: Identifies Oz as CMS Administrator.
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