Interim Dean and Professor of Surgery Dr. Juan C. Cendan has been appointed Senior Vice-President for Health Affairs and Dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM).
Dr. Cendan joined FIU last summer as Vice-Dean and Executive Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Dr. Cendan is a board-certified surgeon with a clinical focus on minimally invasive surgery and surgical disorders of the breast.
Following his medical training at University of Florida (M.D., and General Surgery), Dr. Cendan practiced as a general surgeon in Gainesville, Florida. He then returned to UF as faculty where he developed an academic focus on simulation-based medical education; his undergraduate training in biomedical engineering (Tulane University) was particularly useful allowing him to align the technical specifications to end-user educational needs. Dr. Cendan’s scholarly focus in this area garnered national funding, international recognition, and numerous publications. Additionally, the intellectual property developed in virtual patient simulation has been patented and commercialized.
Dr. Cendan joined the University of Central Florida College of Medicine as founding faculty in 2010, where he served several institutional roles including Assistant Dean for Simulation, Medical Director of the Simulation Laboratory and Chairman of the Department of Medical Education. As Provost Chair and Associate Dean in Residence alongside UCF’s Provost, he developed the framework for the founding of the UCF Academic Health Center. A career educator, Dr. Cendan has taught across the medical curriculum topics ranging from cardiovascular shock, disorders of the adrenal glands and obesity, to case-based anatomic clinical scenarios.
In 2017, Dr. Cendan began a relationship with the web-based publication platform, Cureus, which now serves as an important scholarship outlet utilized by most of Florida’s medical colleges. Dr. Cendan has mentored students and residents interested in surgical careers and supervised clinical trainees in a range of venues including international healthcare and medical student educational exchanges in Mexico, Peru, and Ethiopia.
Since his appointment as Interim Dean of the HWCOM, Dr. Cendan has built on the strong foundational work of Drs. Rock and Sackstein. He worked with the faculty to revise the HWCOM strategic plan to meet internal college and broad university goals.
Dr. Cendan and his leadership team are creating infrastructure that will serve as the platform for clinical practice, education, and research for all FIU Academic Health Center units. Dr. Cendan plans to harness strategic opportunities that will benefit both FIU health students and faculty, clinical partners, and our community in areas of common strengths and interest such as the disorders of aging, access to health care, and optimization of health care delivery and education models.
A Cuban native who spent his early years in Spain, Dr. Cendan is excited to tap into his mix of private and higher education experiences to build on HWCOM’s impact and to serve Miami, the city that welcomed him.
