SMH Urologist Honored for Robotic Surgery Milestone

SMH Urologist Honored for Robotic Surgery Milestone

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

SARASOTA – Sarasota Memorial urologist Robert Carey, MD, was honored for his pioneering work in the field of robotic surgery this month. 

One of the founders of the robotic surgery program at SMH, Dr. Carey has performed more than 2,300 robotic surgeries with the hospital’s skilled robotic surgery team since he came to SMH in 2006.

Dr. Carey was honored by Intuitive Surgical, maker of the da Vince Robotic Surgical System, after reaching a milestone achieved by only a handful of Florida surgeons. 

“Robotic surgery has provided very reliable outcomes for our patients facing a scary diagnosis of prostate cancer,” said Dr. Carey, who specializes in robotic surgery for prostate cancer, kidney cancer and female pelvic floor reconstruction for prolapse. “Because we are a team that has performed so many of these procedures with good outcomes, patients know they can count on us and are relieved they can go on to live fulfilling, healthy, cancer-free lives.”

Sarasota Memorial helped pioneer robotic surgery in the 1990s, participating in clinical trials that shaped the technology, protocols and surgical training for robotic surgery. In 2006, SMH deployed the first commercially available da Vinci surgical robot in Florida and today has the region's most experienced robotic team delivering the greatest number of robotic specialties and widest range of robotic procedures available.

The latest da Vinci Xi systems are optimized for complex cancers, and SMH da Vinci-trained surgeons cover multiple specialties, including Bariatrics, Colorectal, General Surgery, Gynecology and GYN Oncology, Hepatobiliary/Gastrointestinal, Oncology, Thoracic and Urology.

For more information on robotic surgery at Sarasota Memorial, visit smh.com/surgery.

About Sarasota Memorial 
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with more than 1 million patient visits each year. Its flagship 839-bed, acute-care hospital has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s largest and best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of outpatient services – from urgent care, trauma and emergency services to laboratory and diagnostic imaging, home health, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. SMH is the only hospital in Florida to have consistently earned the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ highest five-star quality award since the rating system launched in 2016.  

About Robert Carey, MD
Dr. Robert Carey earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, as well as a Ph.D in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His residency training in surgery and urology, and a fellowship in robotic surgery, laparoscopy and endourology, were completed at the University of Miami in 2006. He has been awarded a National Institutes of Health Fellowship in the Department of Chemistry at Harvard University and has served as an assistant professor at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and University of Georgia. He was an invited lecturer in robotic female pelvic floor reconstruction and robotic surgery for prostate cancer at the Masters in Robotic Surgery Course for the Society of Robotic Surgeons in 2013.  Dr. Carey is a clinical associate professor for the Florida State University College of Medicine and serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of Robotic Surgery. He is a member of the American Urological Association Leadership Class of 2014.