Robert Rege, M.D., a pioneer in minimally invasive surgery and Chair of Surgery from 2001 to 2013, has been appointed Professor Emeritus. He helped train hundreds of UT Southwestern doctors in laparoscopic surgical techniques over the years, providing valuable leadership.

Dr. Rege, who grew up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, earned an engineering degree from Lehigh University in 1971 and his M.D. from Penn State University in 1975. He completed his residency at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.

He interrupted his residency to serve two years as a general medical officer in the U.S. Navy, returning in 1978 to Hershey Medical Center to finish his residency in general surgery. He then completed a one-year fellowship in gastrointestinal research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, afterward joining the faculty at Northwestern. In 15 years at Northwestern, he rose to become a tenured professor and eventually Chief of Surgical Services at the VA Chicago Medical Center, Lakeside Division. And he conducted research on the causes of gallstones and techniques for gallstone removal, publishing more than 100 papers over the years.

Training in subspecialties was not common when Dr. Rege did his surgical residency, but that didn’t stop him from focusing on a burgeoning specialty. “About eight years into my practice, minimally invasive surgery was just becoming popular, so I specialized in that,” Dr. Rege explained. He liked the challenge of being a pioneer.

“At the time that I began doing laparoscopic surgeries, laparoscopic surgery was confined to gallbladder removal,” he continued. “My partner and I started doing other kinds of surgeries – anti-reflux surgery, some gastric surgeries, splenectomies, hernia repairs. It kept building. These days, most things are done laparoscopically or robotically,” Dr. Rege said.

Some of the laparoscopic surgeries that Dr. Rege was at the forefront of include Nissen fundoplication (hiatal hernia repair), esophagomyotomy (a procedure to help food flow more freely through the esophagus), and colectomy (colon removal). While at Northwestern, he developed an early laparoscopic living-donor kidney removal program.

In July 1988, Dr. Rege was recruited to UT Southwestern as Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Surgery and Professor of Surgery. “They recruited me for my minimally invasive surgery skills. They wanted me to train residents to do that,” he said.

He launched a simulation center for training residents in minimally invasive surgeries that has evolved over the years to become a robust simulation teaching center for UTSW medical students.

In 2001, Dr. Rege was named Chair of the Department of Surgery. He held that position for 12 years, then stepped back into that role in 2017 to serve as Interim Chair for a year and a half.

As Chair of Surgery, he oversaw one of the largest surgical residency programs in the country and worked with the American College of Surgeons to develop an accreditation program for simulation centers at medical schools, chairing that group’s accreditation committee for 10 years.

Dr. Rege also helped launch the Liver Transplant Program at UT Southwestern, today considered one of the largest programs in the country. Before he retired on Aug. 31, 2024, he held the Hall and Mary Lucile Shannon Distinguished Chair in Surgery.

In 2015, he became the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and was responsible for implementing and managing a revised medical student curriculum. The Office of Medical Education, which he had overseen, has impacted the education of over 2,000 medical students.

His involvement with UT Southwestern will continue for the next two years as he helps prepare for accreditation of the Medical School by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a designation that is necessary to confer medical degrees.

As Dr. Rege transitions to full-time retirement, his focus will shift to family and travel. He spoke with pride of his three daughters, Diana, Laura, and Julia, each of whom has a noteworthy career: food scientist, food stylist for Martha Stewart’s Food & Wine, and environmental engineer.

Both Dr. Rege and his wife, Gloria, love traveling. They celebrated his retirement with a trip to the Maritime Provinces in Canada and Acadia National Park in Maine.

Reflecting on his career, Dr. Rege said, “I had a very satisfying practice in general surgery. I made important contributions with my involvement in graduate training. Shaping medical education curriculum was a focal point for my last 10 years. I look forward to more rewarding and productive years.”