Dr. Ariel Ortiz — AO monogramDr. Ariel Ortiz®

Signature Keynote

Del bisturí a la inteligencia artificial.

A thirty-year account of surgical evolution — from open surgery and laparoscopy through the internet age, the growth of bariatric surgery in Mexico, the GLP-1 era, robotics, magnetic surgery, and artificial intelligence in surgical education.

  1. 01

    From open surgery to laparoscopy

    The first shift of my career was the transition from open to minimally invasive surgery. In a decade, incisions the length of a hand became four small ports. Recovery times, complication rates, and what patients expected of surgery all changed permanently.

  2. 02

    The internet and digital reputation

    The second shift arrived without any operating room involvement. Search engines, patient reviews, and cross-border information changed how patients found surgeons, evaluated hospitals, and decided where to travel. Reputation stopped being local.

  3. 03

    Bariatric surgery in Mexico and the border

    Tijuana developed into one of the largest cross-border bariatric corridors in the world. That happened because a group of surgeons, hospitals, and accreditors built it deliberately — with training, infrastructure, and long-term follow-up rather than volume alone.

  4. 04

    From gastric band to sleeve

    The Lap-Band era taught us how to work laparoscopically at scale. The sleeve gastrectomy taught us that a simpler operation, done consistently, can dominate a field. Every generation of the operation has been a lesson in humility.

  5. 05

    The GLP-1 era

    For the first time, effective pharmacotherapy sits alongside surgery. This does not diminish surgery — it clarifies it. Surgery is the durable, high-magnitude tool. Medications are the accessible, adjustable one. Modern metabolic care combines them.

  6. 06

    Robotics

    Robotic platforms are the natural continuation of laparoscopy. Their promise is precision, ergonomics, and data. Their limitation, in most of the world, is access — a problem I address in Open Access Robotics.

  7. 07

    Magnetics

    Magnetic surgery reduces port count, tissue trauma, and the visual clutter of the operative field. It is one of several quiet advances that will change how routine bariatric operations look ten years from now.

  8. 08

    Artificial intelligence in surgical education

    The most transformative change is not in the operating room — it is in how surgeons learn. AI gives the teacher memory, metrics, comparison, and objective feedback. It does not replace mentorship. It amplifies it.

  9. 09

    The future of surgery

    Thirty years ago I could not have imagined the tools I use today. The next thirty years will not be an incremental extension of these tools — they will be a category shift. The surgeons who thrive will be the ones who kept learning after residency.

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Available for medical societies, university programs, industry congresses, and hospital grand rounds. In English or Spanish.

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