Five Questions with Dr. Robert Kelley

Robert Kelley, DO, MBA, is an assistant professor in the Emory Gynencology and Obstetrics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) division. He sees patients at the Emory Women’s Center at the Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital campus and at the Emory University campus.

Dr. Kelley completed his residency at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut, where he was Chief Administrative Resident. He completed his FPMRS fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He has received awards for research, gynecologic skills, and teaching.

His research involves the electrophysiological properties of the genitourinary system and he has patents pending on technologies related to diagnosis and treatment of bladder pathology.

 

5 Questions with Dr. Robert Kelley

 

1. Why did you want to become a doctor?

     Medicine is a noble profession that allows one to intervene in the disease process for the betterment of one's fellow human being. Personally, I was also drawn to it because it was the family business. I grew up listening to captivating first-hand stories spanning the breadth of 20th century medicine. My dad is a urologist, my grandfather was a urologist, and my great grandfather was a country doctor. The country doctor, in those days, did it all. I could not imagine doing anything else for a living.

 

2. Why FPMRS?

With my family history in urology, I naturally gravitated towards that field in medical school. However, I also loved my OB/GYN rotation. What was exciting to me was this field allowed doctors to take care of women throughout their lifespan, dealing with quality of life, as well as life-or-death health issues. FPMRS, a new sub-specialty that was the progeny of both urology and OB/GYN, seemed like my natural vocation.

 

3.  What do you wish more people new about FPMRS?

Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS), was formerly called urogynecology or female urology. We are surgeons of the female genitourinary tract dealing with benign, but bothersome conditions, such as urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and overactive bladder. These are very common, often times uncomfortable issues for women, and now there is a field of medicine dedicated to them. The bar for quality of today's FPMRS surgeons is high. One must be a fully trained urologist or OB/GYN and have completed a fellowship in FPMRS, just to be eligible for subspecialty certification. 

 

4. What do you enjoy most about working with patients?

I enjoy interacting with patients and spending the time on the first visit to get to know them. This creates a strong therapeutic relationship in which we can go on to discuss personal uro-gynecologic issues, and work together as a team to make them better.

 

5. What are your hobbies outside of work?

Outside of work I love spending time with my wife and our daughter. I am an avid sports fan, especially football, which I played from elementary school through college. For hobbies, I play electric bass guitar, and enjoy visual arts. I put together an art gallery in medical school to support breast cancer research.

Learn more about Dr. Kelley’s background by visiting his online bio. You can also find him on Twitter, @RobertSKelley. To make an appointment with Dr. Kelley, please call 404-778-3401.