Robert Johnson, M.D., of Wilmington, North Carolina, will begin his post graduate advanced surgical training on August 1 at the Minnesota Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIMIS) located at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby and Riverwood Healthcare Center in Aitkin. 

Dr. Johnson is the fourteenth surgeon to be accepted for the one-year Fellowship training program at MIMIS. He earned his Medical Degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis and Duluth and a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and Spanish at St. Olaf College in Northfield. He recently completed his General Surgery Residency at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington.

The surgeon previously worked as a tutor for students, served as head coach for a collegiate lacrosse team for three years and as captain of St. Olaf’s lacrosse and hockey teams. He was a medical volunteer with Work the World in Mendoza, Argentina, and volunteered in the Emergency Department at United Hospital in St. Paul. Outside of his practice, Dr. Johnson enjoys family, skiing, surfing, kite surfing, travel, rock climbing, building and music.

MIMIS is one of 140 Fellowship programs accredited by the Fellowship Council in the United States and Canada. The Fellowship Council is a national body that provides accreditation for Fellowships in five areas of surgical specialties:  Minimally Invasive Surgery, Bariatric Surgery, Flexible Endoscopy, Advanced Gastro-Intestinal, and Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary. The examination necessary for an institution to qualify for accreditation is rigorous and comprehensive, with extensive evaluation of the quality of the teaching faculty, the facility, and surgical outcomes. Once a surgeon completes a post-graduate Fellowship they are highly sought after by hospitals throughout the country because of their advanced training.

MIMIS remains the only Fellowship program in the United States and Canada to achieve accreditation in three specialties:  minimally invasive surgery, bariatric surgery and flexible endoscopy.  This distinction is unusual, especially coming from the only advanced training program located in a small community hospital in rural America.  Guiding the MIMIS Fellowship training program are five accredited faculty surgeons who are dedicated to performing surgery in the least invasive way.

MIMIS’ vision is to propagate minimally invasive surgery for the benefit of patients everywhere, and through education, research and global outreach, MIMIS surgeons and their alumni are known nationally and internationally.

---