The Department of Surgery was established in 1986 with basic facilities and faculty. Dr. S.S. Narasanagi, then Director of the institute, Dr. Phansalkar and Dr. Veerbasavant Reddy were the pioneers in establishing the department. Later Dr. R. S. Kulkarni, Dr. Ranga Rao and Dr. S. F.Patil were in charge of the department for some time. Dr. B.C.Uppin, a senior surgeon, joined the team as Medical Superintendent.

The department has proved its value from the very first day of its inception with good surgical work backed by healthy academic activities. Dr. P. L. Kariholu, an Oncosurgeon, joined in 1990 and took over as Head of the Department in 1992. With his dedication, hard work, and quality surgical care, he became well known in a short period. All the hard work of the team started paying dividends. In a short time, the department became well-known for successful surgical outcomes in various cases, good academic culture and student and patient-friendly attitude with a disciplined approach.