Dr. Rothenberger Receives the Prestigious 2019 Charles Bolles Bolles-Rogers Physician of Excellence Award

The Twin Cities Medical Society Foundation awarded David A. Rothenberger, MD, the 2019 Charles Bolles Bolles-Rogers Physician of Excellence Award for his leadership as an outstanding physician leader.  As a physician leader, Dr. Rothenberger is recognized for leading with empathy, humility and grace, and as a champion for physician burnout and resiliency.  

Internationally recognized for the treatment of colorectal cancer and anorectal diseases, Dr. Rothenberger was the first to identify a colon/rectal screening test.  His commitment to his patients, including personally contacting each patient the night before surgery to ensure they were prepared for the day ahead, is one of the many reasons Dr. Rothenberger is recognized for this award.  Dr. Rothenberger is known for his leadership, “especially when a need is identified, and gathers others around to help solve issues.”  One example is when he restructured the operating rooms to improve care and operations, “ensuring that no faculty was without the support to perform the care that every patient deserved.”  Dr. Rothenberger is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of physician resiliency and burnout and how to change the culture of the healthcare workplace and restore physician wellbeing.  

Dr. Rothenberger served as the Jay Phillips Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School (2013-2017), and in 2018, appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Medical School Dean for Physician Well-Being, University of Minnesota Medical School.  He has authored or coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, numerous editorials, and book chapters.  He served as President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the ASCRS Research Foundation, and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.  He currently serves as an Alternate Governor to the American College of Surgeons on behalf of the ASCRS.