Dr. Savage received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He completed his general surgery and urology residency training at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Following residency, he had fellowship training in minimally invasive urology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Dr. Savage began his academic career in 2000 at the Mount Sinai Medical Center where he was Assistant Professor and Director of Minimally Invasive Urology. He helped pioneer laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, laparoscopic radical cystectomy with complete intracorporeal urinary diversion and laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in the tri-state area while also leading the endourology stone program at Mount Sinai.
In 2002, Dr. Savage was recruited to help initiate the minimally invasive urology program at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he was also an Assistant Professor at Cornell-Weill Medical Center. With his partner, he brought advanced laparoscopic techniques for urologic cancers to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His major focus there was treatment of kidney cancer and upper tract urothelial cancer.
After 2 years at MSKCC, Dr. Savage was recruited to the Medical University of
South Carolina as Associate Professor and Director of Minimally Invasive Urology to advance the patterns of care for patients in the state of South Carolina. His major clinical interests include prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer as well as stone disease and BPH. He has been a leader of the robotic surgery platform at MUSC since its inception. He established the urologic oncology fellowship program at MUSC.
He has been involved in translational and clinical research since he arrived at MUSC. He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed publications and has had multiple funded research projects. He was promoted to Professor of Urology in 2010 and at the same time he was asked to become the Chief, Section of Urology at the Ralph J. Johnson VA Medical Center. He was a member of the American Urologic Association ultrasound faculty for over 20 years and served on the American College of Radiology Clinical Appropriateness Committee for 5 years as a result.
Dr. Savage has served as mentor for 31urology residents and fellows during his tenure at MUSC. Due to his continued efforts in training the future of the field, he is fortunate to be the only 4-time awardee of the Faculty Teaching Award for the Department of Urology at MUSC. He has also served as faculty mentor for four urologic faculty as they pursue their own careers.
In addition to his clinical duties, Dr. Savage has been involved administratively at MUSC as it expands its mission to improve health care delivery in South Carolina. He was promoted to Vice Chair of the Department of Urology in 2014, led the Urology Working Specialty Group from 2010-2026, was the faculty leader for Genitourinary Tumor Board for 15 years, and has served on the Institutional Review Board for research for 19 years.
Despite the many years of working towards advancing urologic academic medicine at MUSC, Dr. Savage remains passionate about continuing the process by providing the highest level of care to patients, advancing care through collaborative research, and mentoring the next generation of caregivers.