The surgery department is considered one of the basic branches in the College of Medicine, as the certificate granted by the college (Bachelor of Medicine and General Surgery) bears in part the name of the branch.
The department was established in 1970, that is, three years after the establishment of the college, and Prof. Dr. Moustaqi Ahmed Al-Khadar was the first head of the surgery branch, followed by Prof. Dr. Talal Chalabi from 1977-1978, then Professor Dr. Hikmat Abdul Rasoul from 1978-1985. The branch was at the beginning of its establishment in the Republican Hospital and then moved to the sixth floor of the college building in Al-Baradi'yah. With the college moving to its new building, the branch occupies part of the second floor in this building. The branch currently includes 49 instructors in various specialties of surgery, and the branch teaches general surgery for the third and fourth stages, and the branch teaches fifth-stage students the subspecialties of surgery in fractures, plastic surgery, thoracic and vascular surgery, eyes, radiology, ear, nose and throat surgery.