Accepting new patients

John T. Vetto, M.D., FACS, FASA

Accepting new patients

  • Professor of Surgery
  • Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, School of Medicine
  • Professor of Dermatology, School of Medicine

Specialty

  • Cancer

Clinical focus

  • Breast Cancer
  • Melanoma
  • Sarcoma
  • Skin Cancers
  • Surgical Oncology

Locations and contact

I see patients at
Modern building on a clear day with the tram in the background.
Center for Health & Healing, Building 2
503-494-8311
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About me

Dr. Vetto is a soft tissue Surgical Oncologist specializing in melanoma, high risk skin cancer, breast cancer, and sarcomas. He founded the OHSU multidisciplinary breast cancer and clinical melanoma program and is a member of the OHSU multidisciplinary sarcoma team. Dr. Vetto has published extensively on these topics and performed clinical and basic research in cancer areas. He enjoys studying and learning about advances in cancer care so that he can relate that information to colleagues and patients with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes and relieving suffering from cancer.

Outside of work Dr. Vetto enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, travel, visiting with his and his wife's family in Spain and Italy, working out, and watching old movies.

Languages spoken

  • English

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 1978, Portland State University
    • M.D., 1982, Oregon Health & Science University

  • Residency

    • General Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 1982-1984
    • General Surgery, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1986-1989

  • Fellowship

    • Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 1984-1986
    • Surgical Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 1989-1991

  • Certifications

    • American Board of Surgery, 1991; recertified 2000, 2009

Memberships and associations:

  • Alpha Omega Alpha (Alpha of Oregon)
  • Oregon Medical Association
  • Multnomah County Medical Society
  • Portland Surgical Society
  • Oregon Chapter, American College of Surgeons
  • North Pacific Surgical Association
  • Pacific Coast Surgical Association
  • Fellow, American College of Surgeons
  • American Head and Neck Society
  • Society of Surgical Oncology
  • Association of Academic Surgeons
  • Southwest Oncology Group
  • Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract
  • American Association for Cancer Education
  • American Association for Cancer Research
  • Longmire Surgical Society
  • American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • Western Surgical Association
  • Society for the immunotherapy of Cancer
  • Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration
  • Fellow, American Surgical Association
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Insurance

Before scheduling an appointment

  1. Check your network. If you have health insurance,  call your company to find out if the OHSU Health location or provider you plan to visit is part of your network.
  2. Ask what you will pay. Your insurance company can tell you what your costs are likely to be.

If you schedule an appointment and your health insurance does not include OHSU Health, you may have to pay more than if you go to a provider in your insurance network. 

Visit our billing and insurance page for more information.

Ratings and reviews

Overall: 4.9 out of 5 (221 Ratings, 70 Reviews)

The patient ratings score is an average of all responses to the question "How likely would you be to recommend this provider to your family and friends (on a scale of 0 to 10)" on our nationally-recognized NRC patient surveys.

  1. Satisfied

  2. Clinician took the time to make us feel welcome in an otherwise troubling visit.

  3. Dr. Vetto was very friendly, knowledgeable and attentive .

  4. Dr. John Vetto is my "OG Surgeon" & I'll be forever grateful to him for saving my life!!! His Surg-Onc nursing team is wonderful & ALWAYS takes such great care of me!!!Over the past 3+ years my body has gone thru some pretty scary & complicated scenarios, & because Dr. John Vetto knows how to explain things in his certain way, he always calms me down & tells me straight up how it is without scaring me.Dr. John Vetto is the Chair of the Tumor Board for the neck down of my body & continues to advocate for me & takes the time to follow my medical case.THANK~YOU!!!!

  5. Every one was very friendly, helpful and informative

  6. I needed better after care directions. More specific.

  7. Very warm, efficient, attentive, excellent listener

  8. They are very friendly and care about patients.

  9. Vey nice and very informed!

  10. Dr Vetto treats me like a person and not just a number to get through! I prefer his personal manner to what I am seeing generally in the treatment of patients today in medicine and I appreciate it. Dr Vetto conveys choices clearly and kindly

  11. Every visit I have had at OHSU has always been great! Dr Vetto is Great and his staff are superb

  12. I adore Dr Vettohe's always smiling and concerned and thoughtful I do wonder though why the staff member who took my blood pressure & etc didn't instruct me to put on a gown and be prepared for an examI wasn't and should have been ..this was my 1 year post op appointmentwhich I didn't really remember until Dr Vetto came in and was surprised that I wasn't preparedwe agreed it would be ok forbut I paid $45 to say hi to Dr Vetto?

  13. Dr vetto has a very comfortable feeling for me, vvery competent, and thorough

  14. Extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

  15. Vetto is the best , I wanted to see him specifically

  16. I feel very fortunate to have Dr. Vetto as my doctor

  17. Dr. Vetto and staff were excellent. Great communication and job performance. Thank you.

  18. Excellent

  19. Most of the time, very professional

  20. Dr Vetto and Pam and rest of staff are always excellent.

  21. On time, always friendly

  22. It was good that he explained that he was "business-like", necessarily (packed schedule).

  23. All easy and pleasant

  24. He was very personable and took his time

  25. Always excellent personalized care.

  26. Very nice and easy instruction

  27. Very knowledgeable and caring.

  28. Dr. Was running about an hour and a half late. I am very happy with his overall handling of my case. The surgery he performed was successful. Follow-up has been attentive. He is clear in his communication with me. I have confidence in him.

  29. There were two of them. Both were very accommodating and solicitous of (1) my poor hearing and (2) making me comfortable for a 30-minute period of lying still for the procedure.

  30. Wonderful experience