About Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Cengiz Oz ( mə-MET JENG-ghiz oz; Turkish: [mehˈmet dʒeɲˈɟiz øz]; born June 11, 1960), also known as Dr. Oz ( ), is an American television presenter, physician, author, educator, and government official serving as the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2025. The son of Turkish immigrants, Oz was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. He is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Turkey. Oz received degrees in medicine and business from the University of Pennsylvania. He subsequently began his residency in surgery at Presbyterian Hospital in New York in 1986, co-founding its Cardiac Complementary Care Center to provide various types of alternative medicine to heart disease patients. Oz helped create new procedures and medical devices, including the MitraClip. In 2001, Oz became a professor of surgery at Columbia University, and became emeritus in 2018. In May 2022, Columbia cut ties with Oz and removed him from their website. In 2003, the Discovery Channel launched Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, while Oz also appeared as a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, making more than sixty appearances. In 2009, The Dr. Oz Show, a daily television program about medical matters and health, was launched by Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television, running for 13 seasons and winning 10 Daytime Emmy Awards. Oz's promotion of pseudoscience, including on the topics of alternative medicine, faith healing, and various paranormal beliefs, has earned him criticism from several medical publications and physicians. In 2022, Oz ran in the U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania as a Republican; he was the first Muslim candidate for Senate to be nominated by either major party. Oz lost the election to the Democrat John Fetterman. In 2025, President Donald Trump appointed Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); he was confirmed by the Senate along party lines. In April 1995, Oz and his colleague Jerry Whitworth founded the Cardiac Complementary Care Center to provide various types of alternative medicine to heart disease patients. The publicity of Oz's work created tension with hospital administration, who expressed alarm at Oz's use of therapeutic touch, which he dropped in response to their objections. He was awarded the Captain's Athletic Award for leadership in college and was class president and then student body president during medical school.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.