Dr. Robert L. Gates, MD

Expert Publications

• Infrared illumination during thoracoscopic excision of mediastinal bronchogenic cysts.
• Nonoperative management of bronchial injury in a 21-month-old child.
• Primary operative management for pediatric empyema: decreases in hospital length of stay and charges in a national sample.
• Unusual manifestations of vascular rings.
• Repair of Pectus Excavatum in an Adult: An Example of Disease Progression.

Media Releases

Get to know Pediatric General Surgeon Dr. Robert L. Gates, who serves patients throughout the State of South Carolina.

Treating children and teens, Dr. Gates is a pediatric general surgeon serving as the Director of the Pediatric Trauma Program at Prisma Health – Upstate in Greenville, South Carolina. He also tends to patients at Pediatric Surgery-Greenville, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology-Faris, Pediatric Surgery-Greenwood, and Pediatric Surgery-Spartanburg.

Internationally-recognized pediatric surgeons on the staff of Children’s Hospital provide experience and expertise in a wide variety of pediatric surgical situations, from outpatient visits to complex and emergency procedures. Using the latest technology such as laparoscopic surgery, these highly skilled professionals perform intricate operations through the tiniest incisions.

Children’s Hospital delivers comprehensive care to the youngest patients, even before they are born. Pediatric surgeons consult with the many pediatric subspecialists on staff including cardiologists, emergency medicine specialists, gastroenterologists, hematologists, oncologists, neonatologists, nephrologists, and neurosurgeons. Working with specialists in maternal-fetal medicine, these pediatric surgeons perform timely operations to help newborns with congenital abnormalities.

In addition to a fulfilling pediatric surgery practice, Dr. Gates currently serves as the Councilor for the AOA Honor Medical Society at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. He has also served on several committees for the American Pediatric Surgery Association and the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Prior to moving to Greenville, South Carolina in 2010, he was in private practice pediatric surgery in Sacramento, California.

Originally from Southern California, Dr. Gates came east to Vanderbilt University for his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology. He returned to California and earned a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from California State Polytechnic University and then came back to the southeast where he taught high school chemistry at Charlotte Christian School in North Carolina. He attended the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University followed by a residency in general surgery in Huntington, West Virginia, a fellowship in surgical critical care at Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New York.  

Dedicated to excellence, the doctor is board-certified in general surgery, pediatric surgery, and surgical critical care by the American Board of Surgery (ABS). The ABS is an independent, non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded for the purpose of certifying surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training, and knowledge. 

In good standing with a number of professional organizations, Dr. Gates is an active member of the Pediatric Trauma Society, the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Pediatric Surgery Association, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, the South Carolina Medical Association, and the Greenville County Medical Society.

General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland. Pediatric surgeons are primarily concerned with the diagnosis, preoperative, operative, and postoperative management of surgical problems in children. 

Among Dr. Gates’ various awards and honors include: Fellow of the Year; Surgical Resident of the Year; First Place Clinical Research Presentation; Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, Beta Chapter; First Place Clinical Research Presentation; Committee on Student Affairs; Student Representative from Bowman Gray School of Medicine; CIBA-Geigy Community Service Award; Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) Administrative Board; Bowman Gray Research Fellowship; Sigma Xi Honor Chemistry Society; Patients’ Choice Award (2017); and Compassionate Doctor Recognition (2017).

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