Vascular Surgeon Sarah Ongstad Joins Bryan Heart  

Bryan Heart Vascular Surgery recently welcomed vascular surgeon Sarah Ongstad, MD, to the practice. Dr. Ongstad grew up in Cavalier, North Dakota, a small town on the border of Minnesota and Canada.

Sarah Ongstad, MD, and brother,
Drew, on Mt. Rainier.

“Cavalier is a rural farming community where people make their own fun,” she says. “My father, an ‘old-school’ general practitioner, still tells me that I’m not a ‘real doctor’ because I’m a ‘specialist’,” Dr. Ongstad says with a smile.

Dr. Ongstad attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks for her bachelor’s degree in Biology, followed by medical school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She then completed her residency in general surgery at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, followed by a fellowship in vascular surgery at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

“I was specifically drawn to vascular surgery because I really enjoy working with patients who have complex medical issues. I also enjoy the challenge and intensity of the surgeries we perform,” she says.

“I’m pleased to be at Bryan Heart because of the people I get to work with, and because so much of rural Nebraska receives its care in Lincoln, it’s like I’m taking care of my hometown every day. I’ve been fortunate enough to live, work and travel all over the United States but will likely always choose the Midwest to call ‘home.’ The work ethic and kindness of the people here just can’t be found anywhere else.”

Outside of work, Dr. Ongstad enjoys running and hiking, and she has served as a volunteer physician at Mbingo Baptist Hospital in Cameroon.