Board-Certified, General Surgery

Venkata Ravindra Kakarla, MD, FACS is an experienced board-certified general surgeon with a fellowship training in minimally invasive and robotic surgery. He specializes in advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgery involving abdomen and gastrointestinal tract for benign and malignant conditions.

His surgical background spanned over three continents in academic, rural, and urban settings, and one of the very few to perform more than a thousand robotic surgery procedures. He published several articles in peer reviewed academic journals and presented at numerous societies in the areas of general, laparoscopic, and robotic surgery.

Dr. Kakarla’s goal is to provide exceptional, compassionate, and personable, evidence-based care by utilizing minimally invasive approach and cutting-edge technology. His philosophy of care is to establish an honest and educational partnership with his patient, making them a part of the decision-making process throughout treatment and help them to get back to their normal life quickly.

Dr. Kakarla lives in Duluth with his wife and daughter. Outside of the office, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, traveling, gardening, woodworking, reading books and learning new things.

Clinical interests

• General surgery

• Minimally invasive robotic surgery

• Anti-reflux surgery

• Hernia surgery

• Bowel surgery

• Hepatobiliary surgery

• Colon and rectal surgery

• Dialysis access

Education and training

• Fellowship, minimally invasive robotic and bariatric surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

• Residency, General surgery

• New York Presbyterian Queens and New York medical College, New York, NY

• MRCS surgical training

• University hospitals of north Tees and Royal Liverpool University Hospital, United Kingdom

• Bachelor of medicine and surgery (MBBS)

• Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, India

Certifications and affiliations

• Fellow, American College of surgeons

• Fellow, Royal College of surgeons