General surgeons in Chania

Tzatzarakis Emmanouil is a General Surgeon - Endocrine Surgeon, PhD holder from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and maintains a private practice in Kalamata. In 2008, he was admitted to the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, from which he graduated in 2014 with an excellent degree (8.8). After graduation, he moved to Germany, where he began his training in the specialty of General Surgery at the University Clinic of Mannheim, completing it in 2021. He continued to work at the same clinic as a Senior Registrar II until 2024, with a special focus on laparoscopic repair of abdominal wall hernias. In 2022, he completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Heidelberg, earning the title of Doctor (Dr. med.). From 2024 until June 2025, he worked as a Senior Registrar I at the Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Center of Marienhaus Klinikum in Mainz, Germany, where he performed approximately 200 thyroid and parathyroid surgeries and participated in over 500 in total. In June 2025, he relocated to his wife’s hometown, Kalamata, together with her and their two children, beginning his professional activity in Greece.

Ioanna Papadopoulou is a General Surgeon and maintains private practices in Cholargos and Glyfada. She performs exclusively laparoscopic surgery for benign and malignant conditions of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder and bile ducts, as well as all types of abdominal wall hernias. She received her Medical Degree from the “Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi in 2012. She completed her rural service at the General Hospital of Messinia – Kyparissia Nursing Unit in 2013–2014. In 2021, she obtained her surgical specialty certification.

During her specialty training, she served at the 417 Army Fund Nursing Institution (N.I.M.T.S), where she specialized in advanced laparoscopic surgery for malignant colon diseases, obesity, reflux, and hernias, as well as thyroid malignancies. Additionally, at the Sismanogleio General Hospital of Athens, she participated in a large volume of colon and thyroid cancer surgeries. Considering that the present of surgery lies in laparoscopic and robotic techniques, she attended advanced laparoscopic seminars organized by ELPEN under the auspices of the Hellenic Surgical Society from 2016 to 2018.

In 2021, she completed further training in Surgical Oncology, earning a Master of Science (MSc) degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Finally, in 2023, she received additional training in the latest methods for managing complex diaphragmatic hernias and reflux at the Symposium on Innovation in Surgery in Malta.

Dr. Ioannis Virlos is a General Surgeon who maintains a private practice in Glyfada. He graduated from the Medical School of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, obtaining his medical degree in 1990. In 2000, he earned a Master’s degree in Surgical Sciences (MSc in Surgical Sciences) as well as a Diploma from Imperial College London (Diploma Imperial College), United Kingdom. In 2009, he was awarded a Doctorate (Medical Doctorate) from the University of Manchester, UK.He has been a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCSEd.) since 1998 and of the Intercollegiate Board in Surgery of the United Kingdom (FRCS (Gen Surg)) since 2008. Since 2011, he has been a Fellow of the European Board of Surgery in the field of Colorectal Surgery (FEBS (Coloproctology)).Dr Ioannis Virlos is a specialized colorectal and bariatric surgeon, also trained in minimally invasive surgery — both laparoscopic and robotic. He has received training not only in Greece but also in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Belgium.After completing his military service in 1992, he trained in General Surgery in hospitals in Athens and the United Kingdom between 1992 and 1999, obtaining his specialty title in General Surgery in 1999. From 2002 to 2012, he served as a surgical consultant in hospitals in the UK, Australia, Belgium, and Greece. Specifically, he worked at the following hospitals in the UK: North Middlesex, Arrowe Park, Derriford, Torbay, Exeter, Cheltenham, and North Bristol, as well as at Sir Charles Gairdner University Hospital in Perth, Australia, and Sotiria Hospital in Athens (as Senior Consultant).During the same period, he received advanced training in laparoscopic colorectal surgery and laparoscopic bariatric surgery at Singleton Hospital in Swansea, UK, and Heilighart Ziekenhuis in Roeselare, Belgium.From 2012 to 2021, he worked as a Consultant Surgeon at the following hospitals in the UK: Ealing Hospital, Homerton University Hospital, John Radcliffe & Churchill Hospitals in Oxford, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Northampton General Hospital, and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. He returned to Greece in 2021.Since 2023, Mr. Virlos has been the Director of Surgery at Metropolitan General Hospital in Athens. He also serves as the General Secretary of the Hellenic Society of Coloproctology. Finally, for the period 2025–2028, he will represent Greece at the European Society of Coloproctology.