Honoring Our Legacy of Surgical Leaders: Bruce Elliott, M.D.

Bruce M. Elliott, M.D. is a Professor Emeritus at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Elliott is an accomplished vascular surgeon, outstanding educator, and dedicated leader and has enjoyed several MUSC careers.  Initially as MUSC’s first Board Certified Vascular Surgeon and founding Chief of Vascular Surgery, then as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, and finally as the interim University Vice President of Medical Affairs and the Chief Physician Executive of University Medical Associates.

While at MUSC, Dr. Elliott has held numerous leadership positions, including President of the Medical staff, President of the University Medical Associates faculty practice plan, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, the University’s designated Conflict of Interest officer, and interim University VP of Medical Affairs, and Chief Physician Executive of University Medical Associates. He has also served as a member of or Chair of multiple Hospital, College, and University committees during his tenure at MUSC.

He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery and was the founding Chair of its Conflict of Interest Committee. He also served on the AAMC’s Conflict of Interest Steering Committee and was a member of the AAMC’s Group on Faculty Practice.

Dr. Elliott’s clinical interests have been primarily focused on Carotid Disease, Diabetic foot, and Aortic Aneurysms. His dedication to these areas of vascular surgery has been recognized with several awards for excellence in clinical care, and a prestigious Presidential Citation from the Society for Vascular Surgery.

Dr. Elliott was born in North Platte, Nebraska. He obtained his B.S. from Nebraska Wesleyan and his M.D. from the University of Nebraska in 1977.  After completing his internship and residency in Surgery at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco, he remained on as a member of the teaching faculty. 

He completed his peripheral vascular residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1984. He was appointed Chief of vascular surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center until 1986, when he joined the faculty at MUSC as the Department of Surgery’s first board-certified vascular surgeon.

Dr. Elliott’s commitment to service extended beyond his medical career. He was a U.S. Army Medical Corps member from 1977 to 1986 and later remained in the U.S. Army Reserves. His dedication to duty was evident when he was activated in 1990-91 for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He later retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1996.

In recognition of Dr. Bruce Elliott and Dr. Jay Robison’s combined 60+ years of dedicated service to MUSC’s patients, families, students, residents, colleagues, and countless others, Prabhakar Baliga, M.D., announced the campaign for the Elliott-Robison Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery. Fully funded in 2021, Ravi Veeraswamy, M.D., Chief of the division of vascular surgery, was named the inaugural chair-holder of the Elliott-Robison Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery.