Dr. Gary Clayman, DMD, MD, FACS
Dr. Gary Clayman is one of the most experienced thyroid surgeons and arguably the most experienced thyroid cancer surgeon in the world. Dr. Clayman is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Head and Neck Society. For 27 years, Dr. Clayman was the leading head and neck thyroid surgeon at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center where he served as the Distinguished Chair of Head and Neck Surgery and the Chief of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery since 2003. Dr. Clayman remains a lifelong Professor Emeritus at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson for his career contributions to the field of Thyroid Surgery. Dr. Clayman has limited his practice to thyroid and thyroid cancer surgery for more than 25 years.
Dr Clayman's Experience in Thyroid Surgery
Dr. Clayman has performed more than six hundred thyroid cancer operations per year for over 34 years among patients ranging from 6 months to 100+ years of age. Nearly half of Dr. Clayman’s patients have undergone failed initial surgery for their thyroid cancer by another surgeon or have recurrent, persistent, or aggressive thyroid cancer. If it pertains to thyroid surgery or thyroid cancer, there is likely nothing that he hasn’t seen. Dr. Clayman has also written the Atlas of Head and Neck Surgery which is used by residents and fellows across the globe in their endocrine surgery training. What patients say about their thyroid surgeons is also important. Not just about their surgeons, but really the entire treatment team which cares for each and every patient. See our many 5 star reviews on Google. Dr. Clayman and our surgeons at the Clayman Thyroid Center are very high volume surgeons. All that we do is thyroid surgery at a level of safety and quality that is without competitors. Many describe "high volume surgeons" as more than 100 operations per year. Although we care for our patients so that they feel like they are our only patients, Dr. Clayman cares for more than this "high volume" classification in almost every month, not in one year. Volume in thyroid surgery predicts lack of complications in thyroid surgery and cure of thyroid cancer, not achieved by lower volume surgeons. To our knowledge, no other thyroid surgeon in the United States has similar experience.
The Clayman Thyroid Center: A better model for thyroid cancer care.
Dr. Clayman left the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in the fall of 2016 to form the Clayman Thyroid Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr Clayman has established the first interdisciplinary institute dedicated solely to the evaluation and surgical management of thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer. The Thyroid Institute at The Hospital For Endocrine Surgery is now the highest volume thyroid surgery center in the U.S. The Thyroid Institute moved to its new home, The Hospital for Endocrine Surgery in Tampa Florida in January of 2022. This new home is dedicated solely to exceptional care of patients requiring thyroid, parathyroid or adrenal surgery.
Dr Clayman's Awards and Credentials
Dr Clayman is a member of more than 22 prestigious medical societies including the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Head and Neck Society, American Thyroid Association, American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, International Association of Endocrine Surgeons, American Association for Cancer Research, American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, and the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Clayman has received some 35 honors and awards over his career. He has been named to America’s Top Doctors for 19 consecutive years and Best Doctors in America for 18 consecutive years. For his entire career, he has been extensively funded through the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Health (NIH) in his pursuit of a greater understanding of the genetic events that regulate thyroid cancers. He has 5 current patents and has published more than 217 peer reviewed publications. He has published 35 books chapters and books. His book, The Atlas of Head and Neck Surgery, published in 2011, is considered the standard in training of resident and fellows in head and neck endocrine surgery. Dr. Clayman serves on the editorial board of 8 scholarly journals.
Dr. Clayman continues to lecture nationally and internationally on the topic of surgical management of thyroid cancer from minimally invasive to aggressive thyroid cancer and the evaluation and management of recurrent or persistent thyroid cancer. He has been invited to speak at the American College of Surgeons, American Thyroid Association, American Head and Neck Society, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists on many occasions. He developed and maintained the course in Current Concepts in Thyroid and Parathyroid Disease since 2003 which is attended nationally by surgeons and endocrinologists, alike. Dr. Clayman is married to his wife, Miky and has three incredible children ages 27, 21, and 12.
For high calcium and parathyroid disease where abnormal parathyroid glands require surgical removal, Dr. Clayman’s colleagues within the Parathyroid Institute the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery are the global leaders in the evaluation and surgical management of parathyroid disease and are the only individuals that he recommends to manage this disease. Dr. Clayman does not remove parathyroid glands. In his surgery, he saves parathyroid glands. Therefore, he seeks to refer patients with high calcium and parathyroid disease to the surgeons of the Parathyroid Institute at The Hospital for Endocrine Surgery, Tampa Florida.
Edited December 21, 2021.