Persida S. Drotar, MD

Attending Physician; Cardiac Surgery and Lung Transplantation

Dr. Drotar was born and raised in Romania and relocated with her family to Arizona at the age of 16. She completed her undergraduate degree at Arizona State University while employed in the health care industry. Furthermore, she has a vast track record of volunteer work in underserved healthcare clinics, vaccination clinics, homeless shelters and schools for the homeless among others. As part of a larger organization, she volunteered overseas to provide surgical care to remote populations that otherwise would have been without access to healthcare.

Dr. Drotar earned her Medical Doctorate degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She completed her General Surgery Residency in Phoenix, AZ at Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center which houses the Norton Thoracic Institute; a premier Lung Transplant program, one of the top 5 busiest programs in the United States, with the highest rankings, in regards to post transplantation outcomes where she benefitted from additional training in Lung Transplantation.

Dr. Drotar went on to complete a Fellowship in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Christiana Hospital in Delaware, a large tertiary acute care hospital ranked in the top 15 in the northeast for surgical volume and recently ranked number one hospital in the nation for trauma and surgical critical care. During her training, Dr. Drotar received certifications in Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM), Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET), Endovascular Skills for Trauma including Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) certification.

Following her passion, Dr. Drotar went on to complete a Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery, with a focus on Cardiac Surgery at Rutgers Health/Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, in NJ, where she trained under the tutelage of nationally recognized cardiac surgeons with vast experience and knowledge in surgical management encompassing the entire breadth of Cardiac pathologies. Instrumental to the success of the fellowship training was also the multidisciplinary approach to disease management and patient care.

Dr. Drotar also completed advanced fellowship training in Lung Transplantation and ECMO at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NY Presbyterian, the third largest transplant center in volume nationwide, where she received additional training from some of the most skilled transplant pulmonologists and surgeons.

Philosophy of Care:

Dr. Drotar’s philosophy of care is centered around the patient and their loved ones. “Being faced with the need to have open heart surgery is a difficult and stressful situation. I feel it is of utmost importance to ensure that each patient has a clear understanding of the condition they face, and the management plan, and they are active participants in the entire process from diagnosis to recovery while having the assurance of ongoing support from our entire team.” Dr. Drotar emphasizes the importance of having open discussions with the patients, and their family and loved ones, as well as all members of the healthcare team involved in the patient’s care in order to determine the best approach, tailored to each patient’s needs and wishes, to ensure the best possible outcome. Dr. Drotar values a team-centered approach in terms of overall care for each patient.