Rachel Kelz, MD

Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery Perelman 3rd Floor
Make an appointmentCall 215-614-1963
Headshot of Rachel Kelz, MD
Penn Medicine Provider

About me

  • Executive Vice Chair
  • Co-Director, Thyroid Disease Team
  • Director, Center for Precision Resource Utilization
  • Director, Center for Surgery and Health Economics
  • William Maul Measey Professor in Surgery

My education and training

  • Medical School: Yale University School of Medicine
  • Residency: University of Pennsylvania Health System
  • Fellowship: University of Pennsylvania Health System
  • Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Watch video featuring Rachel Kelz, MD on YouTube

Spoken languages

English
English

Reviews

Average Rating

206 reviews

Comments are submitted by patients and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Penn Medicine.

Anonymous
May 2026
went out of her way (dr. kelz) to provide excellent medical care.
Anonymous
April 2026
5 speaks for itself
Anonymous
April 2026
she's the best they were all great
Anonymous
April 2026
dr. kelz listened well, gave me a thorough and reassuring description of the procedure i will need, was generous with her time, and kind.

Insurance accepted

Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.

Locations

Penn Medicine hospital privileges

  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Kelz is a Penn Medicine physician.

Qualifications and experience

Treatments and Conditions

Research

Publications

Zubizarreta J, Reinke C, Kelz R, Silber J, Rosenbaum P Matching for several sparse nominal variables in a case-control study of readmission following surgery , The American Statistician (TAS), 65(4): 2011,229-238

Mills AM, Holena DN, Kallan MJ, Carr BG, Reinke CE, Kelz RR Effect of insurance status on patients admitted for acute diverticulitis , Colorectal Diseases, 15(5): 2013,613-620

Holena, DN; Hadler, R; Wirtalla, C; Carr, B; Morris, JB; Kelz, RR Teaching status: The impact on emergency and elective surgical care in the U.S. , Annals of Surgery, 253(5): 2011,1017-1023

Mittal MK, Morris JB, Kelz RR Germ simulation: A novel approach for raising medical students awareness toward asepsis , Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 6(2): 2011,65-70

Silber JH, Rosenbaum PR, Kelz RR, Reinke CE, Neuman MD, Ross RN, Even-Shoshan O, David G, Saynisch PA, Kyle FA, Bratzler DW, Fleisher LA Medical and financial risks associated with surgery in the elderly obese , Annals of Surgery, 256(1): 2012,79-86

Reinke CE, Hadler RA, Karakousis GC, Fraker DL, Kelz RR Does the presence of thyroid cancer increase the risk of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing thyroidectomy? , Surgery, 150(6): 2011,1275-1285

Reinke CE, Drebin J, Kreider S, Kean C, Resnick A, Raper S, Kelz RR Timing of pre-operative pharmacoprophylaxis for pancreatic surgery patients: A venous thromboembolism reduction initiative , Annals of Surgical Oncology, 19(1): 2012,19-25

Holena D, Mills A, Carr B, Wirtalla C, Sarani, B, Kim P, Braslow B, Kelz RR Transfer status: A risk factor for mortality in patients with necrotizing fasciitis , Surgery, 150(3): 2011,363-370

Shah PK, Shah KK, Karakousis GC, Reinke CE, Kelz RR, Fraker DL Regional recurrence after lymphadenectomy for clinically evident lymph node metastases from papillary thyroid cancer: A cohort study , Annals of Surgical Oncology, 19(5): 2012,1453-1459