Mehmet Cengiz Öz[a] (Turkish: [mehˈmet dʒeɲˈɟiz øz]; born June 11, 1960), known professionally as Dr. Oz (/ɒz/), is an American former professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, television presenter, author, and former political candidate.
The son of Turkish immigrants, Oz was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Turkey, Oz served in the Turkish Army during the 1980s for 60 days of mandatory training, specifically for citizens who reside in foreign countries, to maintain his Turkish citizenship. He subsequently began his residency in surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 1986. In 2001, he became a professor of surgery at Columbia University, and later retired to professor emeritus in 2018. In 2003, Oprah Winfrey was the first guest on the Discovery Channel series Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, and he was a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, making more than sixty appearances. In 2009, The Dr. Oz Show, a daily television program about medical matters and health, was launched by Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television, running for 13 seasons. Oz's promotion of pseudoscience, including on the topics of alternative medicine, faith healing, and various paranormal beliefs, has earned him criticism from a number of medical publications and physicians.
Oz ran in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania as a conservative Republican. Oz lost the election to Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman. Oz was the first Muslim candidate to be nominated by either major party for U.S. Senate.

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