Since its establishment as a medical college in 1834, Tulane University has trained many physicians to lead successful careers. Today, this tradition remains alive with more than 75 doctors from the Tulane School of Medicine having been selected by their peers as some of the best doctors in New Orleans.

Each year, Best Doctors, a global health company in Boston, sends out a nationwide survey to physicians asking the question: “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, and you couldn’t treat them yourself, to whom would you refer them?” Best Doctors seeks to recognize exceptional physicians within their respective fields of medicine and highlight their work and contributions to society.

New Orleans Magazine partnered with Best Doctors to compile a list of the top physicians in the New Orleans area. All nominations to the listing were based on recommendations by doctors who have been previously selected for the list.

Dr. Luis Balart, professor of medicine and director of Hepatology at Tulane School of Medicine, is one of the many notable physicians to be nominated to the Best Doctors list. In addition to being director of Hepatology, the LSU graduate is now leading the clinical research team in the Hepatology department at the Tulane School of Medicine.

Largely owing to the efforts of Balart and his colleagues, 95 percent of patients are now Hepatitis-free.

“I have spent most of my career trying to cure Chronic Hepatitis C, and we have now finally found the answer,” Balart said.

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Dr. Olugbenga Akingbola was also among the more than 75 Tulane physicians nominated for the listing. Akingbola works at the Tulane Lakeside Hospital for Women and Children as the director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and was featured alongside Balart in New Orleans Magazine.

Dr. Lee Hamm, senior vice president and dean of Tulane School of Medicine, believes this list has wide implications for the medical school.

“This is a tremendous recognition,” Hamm said. “Overall, this demonstrates that Tulane … has probably the best-recognized group of doctors in the region.”

The Tulane School of Medicine continues to be a leader in both education and clinical research.

“We’ve grown and improved in a number of directions in each of our missions of education, research and clinical care,” Hamm said. “We continue to attract some of the best students and faculty from around the country.”

Though Best Doctors is generally considered to be reliable, no ranking system is totally without bias. Because Best Doctors’ survey is based on peer recommendations, New Orleans Magazine reports that the survey does “naturally favor more senior doctors who have had time to develop a reputation.” As a result, many newer physicians may have been overlooked or insufficiently recognized by this report.

Additionally, because physicians nominate their colleagues, university-affiliated doctors are often at an advantage.

While Best Doctors is not a definitive guide to the top names in healthcare, this list nonetheless recognizes the accomplishments of those physicians who were nominated. That such a large number of doctors selected for the list are affiliated with the Tulane School of Medicine suggests Tulane may be aiding in paving the way for the future of healthcare.