In 1984, he succeeded Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town and was appointed president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) from 1988 to 1990.

[1] From 1971 to 1973, Reichart worked as a surgical assistant under surgeon Rudolf Zenker[1][3] and within a year was appointed visiting cardiac physician in Memphis, Tennessee, where he focused on heart, lung, and vascular surgery.

In 1977 he became its senior physician and a year later he passed his habilitation with the topic "The mechanical support of acute right heart failure",[2] and become a cardiothoracic surgeon in 1978.

Azathioprine, cortisone and Anti-thymocyte globulin were the immunosuppressants used until two rejection episodes resulted in changing therapy to cyclosporine A three weeks after surgery[4] and they were discharged from hospital at Christmas 1981.

[3] His aspiration is to see that "the transplanted tissues and organs will in the future be genetically programmed to also carry an immunosuppressive molecule on all their cells, so that even fewer corresponding drugs are needed - or perhaps none at all".

[3] Reichart was president of the ISHLT from 1988 to 1990,[1][13] who honoured him with the Pioneer Award for his work in heart surgery in Munich at their 35th annual meeting[9] in 2015.