Daniel J. Freet, MD, FACS

Biography

Growing up in a large farming family in Iowa, Daniel Freet did manual labor with his five siblings, managing fields and working with pigs and cows. “I liked it because we had to do it all together as a group; it was a social thing.”

Today he still enjoys a collaborative environment in the Surgical Department at UT Health. “Together, we take care of a lot of trauma patients, and for many of them, there are several follow up surgeries and appointments. You get to know their families and share in the process.”

Freet knew he wanted to be a doctor when he was a child. Staying up late to watch the television show MASH with his father, he was inspired by the Hawkeye Pierce character. After getting a degree in anthropology at the University of Iowa, he stayed at the university medical school. “But I knew I couldn’t handle the cold up there any longer, so I applied for every residency program in Texas,” he says, choosing UT.

In his spare time, Freet fosters dogs and has a few dogs of his own. “I’m lucky. I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.”