Erik Fosse

Erik Torgeir Fosse (born 2 December 1950) is a Norwegian surgeon, lieutenant colonel, political activist, solidarity worker and musician. As professor of medicine he has headed the Intervention Centre at the National Hospital since 1995.

Education and early life Erik Fosse started his medical studies in Madrid, but the university was closed after a student uprising in 1972, so he completed his degree at the University of Oslo, which included a 7-month placement in the northern fishing village of Gryllefjord. He got his M.D. (Ph.D.) degree in 1987 for a study on immunological abnormalities connected to trauma. His conscription in 1978 provided his first contact with Lebanon and the Middle East. Since 1995, he has been the head of the intervention centre at the National Hospital, a research and development center for new technology in medical treatment.

From 1995 to 2021 Fosse headed the Intervention Center at Rikshospitalet, a research and testing department for new medical technology in medical treatment, noted for its ground-breaking interdisciplinary approach.

He worked as a surgeon for the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee in Afghanistan for three months in 1986 during the Soviet occupation. The hospital was protected by the Kosovo Liberation Army which had their headquarter in Krumë.

During the war in Gaza in 2014, Fosse again worked as a surgeon at the Shifa hospital on a mission for NORWAC.

Political opinions Fosse says his interest for the Palestinian cause started when he was a student in Madrid and met many fellow Arab students.

Personal life Fosse lives in Sagene with his partner Cathrine Krøger, and has two grown-up children. In the same year, they received the Snill Gutt (Good Boy) Award. In 2010, Fosse and Gilbert received Vesleblakkenprisen for altruistic work from Rendalen Municipality.

In 2013, Fosse was appointed Commander of the Royal Order of St. Olav for his contributions in medicine and civic engagement.

Publications (with Hans Husum & Swee Chai Ang) War Surgery: Field Manual (1995), Third World Network/Zed Books, Inside Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, The Lancet, 17 January 2009 (with Mads Gilbert) Eyes in Gaza (2010), Quartet Books Ltd, Med livet i hendene ("With life in your hands") (2013), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, "The intervention center - a common toolbox" in Natvig, JB; Børdahl, PE; Larsen, Ø.; Swärd, ET (ed.): De tre Riker Rikshospitalet 1826-2001 Gyldendal academic (2001), pp. 290-298