Dr. Jack Sariego, MD, is currently a Medical Director for United Healthcare, a division of the United Health Group. He was previously, until Sept 2021, Vice President for Perioperative Services within the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, PA.
A Board-certified General Surgeon with additional formal training in Surgical Oncology and extensive experience in Trauma Surgery, Dr. Sariego is a Philadelphia native and obtained his undergraduate B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Graduating Summa cum laude in 1979, he then attended Thomas Jefferson Medical College, where he was awarded his M.D. degree in 1983. After a surgical internship at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, he completed his Surgery residency at The Medical College of Pennsylvania, completing his residency training there in 1988. A formal Surgical Oncology preceptorship followed, also at The Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1988 until June 1990. He continued to work in academia and was an Assistant/Associate Professor at Hahnemann University until 1996. During that time, he also had a thriving clinical practice comprised of general surgery and surgical oncology.
In 1996, Dr. Sariego transitioned to private practice and moved to rural Mississippi, where he was the only surgeon for a 100-mile radius. In 2001, he moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast—still in private practice—and served as Chairman of Surgery at Ocean Springs Hospital and American College of Surgeons State Chair for Trauma for the State of Mississippi. In 2006, after weathering Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Dr. Sariego and his family moved back to his native Philadelphia. He was recruited back to academia, this time to Temple University, where he held the rank of Professor of Surgery and served as the Associate Program Director for the Surgery Residency at Temple. His clinical practice was predominantly at TempleHealth/Jeanes Hospital, where he held the positions of Chairman of Surgery, Director of Medical Education, and Associate Medical Director of Perioperative Services for the Jeanes/FoxChase campus of TempleHealth. Moving to Aria Health System in 2015, he became part of Jefferson Health System when Aria merged with Jefferson a year later. He held the positions of Chairman of Surgery, Surgeon-In-Chief, Director of Perioperative Services, and Director of Surgical Education of the newly named Jefferson Health Northeast (formerly Aria Health). He was also Vice Chairman for the global Jefferson Enterprise Department of Surgery and a full Professor of Surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. In September 2018, Dr. Sariego joined Penn Medicine as Vice President for Perioperative Services at Pennsylvania Hospital and served in that role until September 2021.
Dr. Sariego’s main clinical and research interests are in Breast Disease. He has extensively presented and published nationally and internationally in the area of Breast Disease and Breast Cancer as well as Surgical Oncology, Medical Education, and Aeromedical Evacuation/Combat Casualty Care (he is an acknowledged expert in these latter fields as well). He has previously been presented with the Burnett Award for Teaching Excellence by the surgery residents at Temple.
Dr. Sariego was also an active member of the United States Air Force Reserve and rose to the permanent rank of Colonel. He has held a number of military jobs: General Surgeon, Flight Surgeon, and Trauma/Critical Care Specialist. In this latter capacity, he deployed to Southwest Asia and Europe during both OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and again during OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. A decorated veteran, Col Sariego’s last tour of duty was as Commander of the 514th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. He exercised command and control of a medical unit comprised of over 100 members, including doctors, nurses, and critical care assets.
