Who decides on your surgeon?

I see so many different surgeons' names listed and I was wondering how your surgeon is chosen? Do you have any input in the process? Does your doctor at the Bariatric Centre you've been seeing make the decision or maybe the doctors work on a rotating basis at the different hospitals? Does anyone know if there is a site that "rates" the doctors, telling how long they've been doing gastric bypass surgery, how many procedures they've done, what their success rate is - am I overthinking this whole thing?

Deb

Hi Deb when i was at your stage in this i always wondered how your surgeon was chosen and if i had any in put on the process.from what i remember i had no choice i was given docotor Klein through the bariatric clinic at Humber river in toronto.there is a website you can check out about your surgeon and how many surgery he or she has performed ect.i  can not remember what and where i found out how many surgeries he has done ect.i had my surgery done almost over 3 years know.good luck with your weight loss journey.you are not over thinking the whole thing it is a good idea to find out these things.i have done that one any new doctor or specialist and suregone the i have had.i am sending you hugs and positive vibes.keep your eyes on the prize.i hope i have helped you in some way,i cant wait until you are on the bench. where are you having your surgery and who is your surgeon?take care of yourself my dear oh friend.feel free to add me as a friend or pm me ect and ask me any questions you may have.
SINCERELY YOURS YOUR OH FRIEND ALWAYS
PAULA(paula-37)

Hi Paula

Thanks for the great response and the warm offer of support and friendship - I just may pm you with a question or two about the process.  Nice to know that I am not overthinking things - LOL! At this point I still have to see the social worker & the Nutritionist, so I'm a way off yet from my surgery.

Deb

The bariatric registry assigns you to a particular hospital, depending on your postal code. The doctors are likely assigned according to a rotation of some sort. 
there's a place somewhere here on this website that 'rates' the doctors. You can also check out the college of physicians and surgeons website, that will tell you if they've had any judgments against them.

The bariatric centres in ontario are all "centres of excellence", i really don't think you have to worry about some half assed jerk doing your surgery.

Hi Monica!

Thanks for the input - it makes sense that they would assign the doctors; they have to find a logical way to do this, I guess.  No, I wasn't too worried about geting stuck with someone incompetent - I'm sure that they are all well qualified. I've seen a few people mention on here how much they liked their particular doctor and that's what got me wondering if we could request a certain doc. I just hope that mine has a good bedside manner and is easy to talk with, since surgery is always a  scary thing to think about.

Deb

I've been going to the Civic Hospital in Ottawa and when the dr advised me the next step was to meet the surgeon, I asked her if she knew who was doing the surgery. She advised me that once you are done all your appointments you are then referred to the surgical team. From there a surgeon will be assigned your case. Not sure if it's like that everywhere, but it is here in Ottawa. Best of luck to you.

Hi Julie

Thanks for letting me know how it worked for you. I'm sure the process is pretty much the same everywhere.

Deb

I don't know that you can request a certain surgeon. I had mine at TWH and my surgeon was determined by which date I was assigned for the surgery. Dr Penner interviewed me on the meet the surgeon day, but informed me that he would not be the doctor to do my surgery as  Dr. Timothy Jackson's day to do surgery was March 2nd.. and that was my scheduled day.. and I am soooo pleased as he is terrific. I am so lucky to have had him for the surgery. I am sure all of the doctors who do the WLS at Toronto, and Guelph etc are top notch!

suzyq0052

Hi suzyq!

Thanks for answering my questions! That does make sense and I'm so glad that you ended up with a great doctor. I would think that they're all pretty good, I was just curious about whether we could ask for someone who we've heard is really good. I was told that we can request either Guelph or Toronto for our surgery, so I'll be asking for Guelph.

Deb

This was a BIG concern of mine too.  When I chose Guelph last summer, then discovered they were bringing in "new" doctors, I was so worried that I would have someone with not enough experience.  I should not have worried because yes I got the new guy and was even probably his first patient on his own at Guelph but I have no complaints at all. I even told him about my worries when I met him and he assured me that he had plenty of experience doing all kinds of surgery. It turned out that he was GREAT, he did a wonderful job and I am very happy with him, the hospital and after care I received there and most of all thankful for my surgery and the results I am seeing from it.