The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates Bariatric Center

Dr. Lin is my savior!!! Dr. Lin is very down to earth. He was very informative about the procedure. Everything he told me was true (pain, expectations. etc.) His staff is great. They are so helpful and encouraging. They were very knowledgeable about what the insurance companies needed to approve the surgery. They were very good about keeping on top of the paperwork that came in from all of the specialists that I had to see. He always gives me plenty of time at each appointment and never makes me feel that any question is stupid. He is not arrogant like some doctors can be. He has a great bedside manner. He acts like he really cares about you as a person and your personal success. Dr. Lin is truly the best doctor that I have ever seen. There is not one thing about him that I didn't like. I would be happy to answer specific questions regarding the care that I have received. Truly no complaints. I did have some issues with my care in the hospital, however; everything that I brought to Dr. Lins' attention, he helped with.

My first impression of Dr. Brody was possitive. He got right to the point and told me the ups & downs of the surgery. He explain the whole procedure to me. I left really comfortable with him. He's staff was really nice and they lissened to me and answered all my questions. I didn't feel like a number. There was nothing about Dr. Brody I didn't like. He's the kind of doctor that tells it like it is and doesn't beat around the bush. I liked that. I read what other people had to say about him (some neg and some pos) I guess you would just have to see him for your own throught.

For right, now I don't know his bedside manner I'm still waiting for my approval.

I have my approval. I will update re: Dr. Brody's bedside manner after my surgery in June 2003

My surgeon was Dr. Paul Lin and very very competent and has a wonderful bedside manner. His support staff is always wonderful....I can't say enough good things about Dr. Lin and his staff.

The only thing I would say need to be improved is his aftercare program...he doesn't really have one at this point and you're left to find your own. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. He does emphasize the importance of aftercare but doesn't have a program for his patients. That is the one and only thing I would say needs improvement.

The Dr and his staff were all very informative when it came to the surgery and all aspects of it (risks, what to expect, etc).

I would rate him very very highly for his practice and surgical competence and bedside manner.

My first impression of him was that he was
very clinical and emotionless of the
procedure. However, after becoming his
patient I feel that he cares quite a lot
about his patients. His office staff is
mostly great - especially his nurse
practitioner Denise. His residents/med
students were great to me in the hospital.
He was just listed in Washingtonian magazine
as one of the top docs in the DC area. He
does a lot of cancer surgeries in addition
to the WLSs. He makes you watch a 45 minute
video the first time you go to his office
and he gives lots of literature as to the
risks and benefits of the surgery.
Unfortunately he does not actively participate
in an aftercare program but they do give
you info about one.
I think his surgical competence is better
than his bedside manner but it's a close
call.

dr. brody is very serious, and right to the point. he explained the surgical procedure, and some details of what i can expect after surgery. his office staff was absolutely the most professional people i have come into contact with since i started my journey. future patients should know that it is a long and drawn out process getting to actually see him, you must first see his "team" of other doctors(endocrinologist, dietician, and a psyciatrist). once this is completed you finally see him, and he is scheduling 8 months out. i feel it is worth the wait, he is very professional and very wellknown in his industry. his surgical competence is next to none, and if you can hang in there for the long wait, it will be worth you while.

I've met him twice. He didn't spend any EXTRA time, but he approved my surgery & told me how he would get around my complication. The surgeon I was formerly assigned to just turned me down! Dr Brody even smiled, which was nice to see! I hope Cleveland Clinic develops an aftercare, but if not, I'll find one of my own.

My first impression of Dr. Brody was pretty good. He only spent a few minutes with me and told me right from the begining that I would be a great candidate for the surgery. He sat down with me for a few minutes and went over the procedures and asked if I had any questions. It was a pretty quick visit but I was so extremely releaved after going through the process just to have the chance to meet Dr. Brody.

I have only met Dr. Brody that one time because I live out of state and have to come in for my visits. I know a lot of people have said that he has no beside manner and that he's lacking a lot of people skills. That made me nervous at first because I thought that if he didn't want to talk to or make time to get to know any of his patients how much does he really care about helping us.. but when it comes down to it Dr. Brody has got to be one of the best surgeons in the area working for the Clinic and they are not supposed to be the family doctors who chitchat with you. They are the ones who do the "mechanical" work and as long as they are excellent at what they do nothing else matters. I would say it is important to have a good bedside manner, but most importantly they should have excellent surgical competence which Dr. Brody undoubtedly has.

There is not much of an aftercare program that I know of. I guess I never really payed much attention to that because all I want is to have the surgery.. once its over I will probably wish there was something more but I haven't gotten to that point yet.

Dr. Brody did address the risks of the surgery

Dr. Brody is very businesslike and straight forward. He does not sugar coat any of the information, He warned me of possible complications and also the great number of benefits. I appreciated his candor. I saw him twice in the hospital, the rest of the time I saw his interns. I did not like this that much. I know they need to learn, but I did not like being a guinea pig and some of their knowledge and answers were incorrect and I was glad I was well educated prior to my surgery.

I had a lot of problems in the hospital keeping my blood sugars stable after surgery. I kept telling them that they were not giving me enough insulin (because of my large size I do not fit a standard sliding scale) but they would not listen. I truly feared that I would develop an infection and was lucky not to. They finally started listening after the 3rd day.

The office staff has been helpful and kind during visits. They share in your success and make you feel great!

If you are looking for a competent surgeon and don;t need a warm fuzzy bedside manner, than I feel Dr. Brody is an excellent choice. He has saved my life and I am grateful to him.

The aftercare program at the Cleveland Clinic is non-existent. I am gratful to have been included in the support group programs that are put on by St. Vincent Charity, another Cleveland hospital that does these surgeries. I probably would have had my surgery with them, however, I was able to get an earlier date with Dr. Brody and my health was seriously declining. I learned and continue to learn so much from the members of their website message board and face to face support group. I think the CLeveland CLinic needs to hire a coordinator to put together an after care program. The dietary department was a big disappointment as well. I learned more from other patients and my own research on the internet and from books than from them. I chose to discontinue seeing them at $85 per visit, not covered by insurance. It was a big waste of money.

Overall I feel that my experience at the Cleveland Clinic was good. A support program would be very helpful, but my actual surgical experience with Dr, Brody and his direct staff was great. I recommend patients to see him for srgery. He does both open and lap procedures. I had mine open.

Upon my initial meeting, I did not like Dr. Brody at all. He was condescending and ignored many of my questions. He was the only doctor my insurance would pay for and I needed the surgery so went ahead despite my misgivings about him. I had no problems with my inital surgery but my incision opened the day he took the stitches out. I called him to ask what to do and was chastised for calling him after hours. I had a friend (RN) come over the next day to check my wound. She was uncomfortable with the way it looked. She called his office and told them the size and condition of the wound. She was told that I should shower and put a bandage on it. He was busy with surgery that day and leaving on a trip the next day. She was told that if I wanted I could call after he returned from his trip. (This would have made it a week before he would see or talk to me). She rechecked my wound the next day and had me call my PCP because she was very disturbed by what appeared to be infection. My PCP checked me out and found a piece of exposed mesh that needed to be cared for immediately. He referred me to a local surgeon (Dr. Wehman at Cuyahoga Falls Gen Hospital). Dr. Wehman removed the mesh and I had to stay in the hospital several days while they packed and cleaned the wound. When all signs of infection were gone, I was taken back to surgery and stitched shut again. I truly thank God every day for Dr. Wehman and his care after being shunned by Dr. Brody and his office. Dr. Brody may be a competent surgeon but as a human being, he is at the bottom of the pit as far as I'm concerned. He never even wanted to see me again after removing the stitches and after reading how wonderful and caring other bariatric surgeons are (and what kind of follow-up they offer) I know this is not the norm. I was also amazed that the first time I heard from his office again (despite knowing I had an open incision) was to offer a follow-up group being started which was an entire year after my surgery. I do my own follow up. I am on all the OSSG support groups -- my PCP does extensive blood work on me. Though I would like to lose another 50 lbs, I am happy where I am. I do not regret the surgery -- I never will -- I have my life back. My only regret is that my insurance forced me to use Dr. Brody.

Very professional. He's kinda methodical. I mean, not real personable. He's a general surgeon, not specializing in WLS. I like him, but I wouldn't say (at this point, PRE-op!) that he's real warm. He's VERY professional and very informative. That's all I can say about how he addressed the risks, etc. He was VERY informative. That should be enough said! He seems to be very concerned with after care. He insisits on follow-ups. I had to postpone my surgery date because about a week after my surgery, he was going to be out of town and he said he'd rather postpone than have someone else be there for me if there were to be a problem. I like a doctor who prefers to take care of his/her own patients rather than pawning them off to other doctors.

He told me he could try Lap if I wanted, but it's not something he regularly does. He prefers open because there are generally fewer complications. I wanted to try lap. He agreed with the stipulation that if it's not working as well as he'd like, he'll open me. I had no problem with that. He made it clear that he was not in a numbers game of how many laps he can do like many other surgeons are. He also made it clear that he's not an aggressive RNY surgeon, meaning he attaches higher than many surgeons, meaning slower weight loss, but more nutrition over all. I like that. I'm not in any hurry! I've been overweight for ages as it is!

As for his staff, his surgical coordinator is a bit "cold" but she warms up after a while. Just stick with her.

I prefer surgical competence over bedside manner and he at least has that. I don't know about bedside manner yet.