Alan Newhoff Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Dr. Newhoff is a no tolerance Dr. on what he expects from his patients. I like his straight forwardness and the fact he was involved in bariatric surgery at the origination of the procedure at the University of Iowa and has maintained his knowledge of the procedures. I was skeptical about laproscopic procedures and when he stated that their were advantages gained by an open procedure that I wanted him to do my procedure. My daughter went with me on the consultation and agreed he was a good choice. I was very concerned about the risk of dieing but like the phycologist said if he was going to die that on the operating table would be his choice. It seemed to reduce my anxiety about the risk but feel it is an extremely low risk after all of pre-op requirements.

I have only met him once and that was during my group consult, but I thought he was most awesome. I have worked with many doctors and have found that ones with the bedside manner as he does.. straight forwards and to the point are the best! During the group cnsult of course he asks what we all snack on and the % of milk we drink. Well we eat very healthy at home and so when I had told him that I drink fat free milk and my fav snack are baby carrots..he was VERY pleased. He wants everone to be a success but this isn't some quick fix to any of our problems.. he us just giving us a tool to HELP US HELP OURSELVES! And if we do not use that tool properly how do we expect it to work or how do we expect him to react. My overall impression and opinion of Dr Newhoff is.. he is awesome!

Initial appt 1013/03, Dr. Schlesinger was impersonally professional, which was fine with me, I was there for info and he was very informative, took time to answer all my questions. He left me feeling confident I had chose the right doctor for such a serious surgery. The Bariatric Treatment Center in Scottsdale was a beautiful building, and very accomodating from the staff to the furniture.

1/22/04 Dr Schlesinger is out of network, met with Dr Alan Newhoff in Phx on the 20th and he is just like I had heard he would be, very "to the point" insists on complete compliance and is very knowledgeable, he has been doing this type of surgery (open RNY) since 1977. Not warm and fuzzy, but that's okay, I need someone firm and committed. His staff was helpful and friendly on this first consult. I would rate him as very high and would recommend him to others.

I had met with another surgeon prior to meeting with Dr. Newhoff. Both doctors were very personable and seemed quite competent. I decided to go with Dr. Newhoff because he was on my insurance list. This will drastically reduce my out of pocket costs. If the other doctor had been on the list I would probably have chose him because his facility is exclusive to bariatric patients.

I first heard of Dr. Newhoff while watching a special on Carnie Wilson's experience. I was impressed that he was mentioned by name as one of the best in the country. Dr. Newhoff seems very no nonsense and I like that. His office staff is very friendly and courteous. They return phone calls in a timely manner. They told me what my insurance company required. They called to let me know when they had requested something additional.

Dr. Newhoff did address the risks of surgery but because I had done a lot of resaerch before deciding to have the surgery I was already aware of the risks.

As I have not had surgery yet I cannot comment on my experience overall. I will update after surgery.

I am currently pre-op, so I have met with Dr. Newhoff only once.

Despite what I had read from others about Dr. Newhoff's "difficult" personality, I found him (at the initial, nearly 4-hour orientation session) not only completely professional, but also open, straightforward, tremendously informative, and occasionally even entertaining (he cracked a few delightful jokes!). I was thoroughly impressed.

I appreciated the fact that Dr. Newhoff limited the number of prospective patients at my orientation to only 6, and gave each one of us some individual attention.

The office staff could not be more helpful or supportive.

Have a consult on July 15th.
Had consult, everything went well.

Dr. Newhoff ran an outstand consult with full details of the surgery and what to expect of the surgery and post op. Nothing was left to your immagination.

Surgery was preformed on April 28th 2003 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. The surhgery went off without a hitch. Dr. Newhoff and his team were nothing less than outstanding. He made me feel at ease with his professionalism and amnner. I would recommend his highly to anyone who is seeking this surgery. My wife called him once, when I was hospitalized in Sierra Vista for the gout seven days after the surgery and he taked to my wife from the operating room, now that is service.

My first impression of Dr. Newhoff was that he was an extremely in demand surgeon. He was very straight forward and not into getting to know the person, which I didn't find offensive because I had done alot research on him and the surgery. I felt very confident that he knew what he was doing- I never had any doubts about his capabilities! After having the surgery I have found that Newhoff is an awesome surgeon and would recommend him to anyone. Most say he doesn't have much of a bedside manner but I found him to be pretty funny and caring! He expects you to follow his orders to ensure success with the tool he has given you. Go Dr. Newhoff!

My surgeon is Dr Newhoff... On my inital meeting with him I found him to be matter of fact and to the point. I felt that he was very well informed but a bit abrupt. He seems to really care about what he is doing but his way is the ONLY way. I liked the fact that he went over everything first without being interupted with questions as he hit on most of them while he was giving his presentation.
Future patients should know that he is not going to coddle you and that if you don't care enough to do what he is telling you to save your life then he won't do the surgery.
He emphasizes aftercare greatly. He has a patient advocate that you meet with before the surgery and most of the time meets with you while you are in the hospital to go over any questions you may have. He also gives you a packet that has aftercare instructions before you go into the hospital and it also has some easy, good for you receipes in it.
He definitly addresses the risks of the surgery completly. There is nothing left out.
I found Dr Newhoff to be much more warm and compassionate after the surgery. Not warm and fuzzy but just not rushed and listened to what I had to say and ask. He doesn't hold your hand and say things that are what you want to hear. He will have you up and walking just a few hours after coming out of recovery. And every few hours until you leave the hospital.
I give Dr Newhoff a 10 for the entire ordeal.
Found him to be GREAT! I would definitly recommend him to anyone looking for a surgeon.
I feel surgical competence is better then bedside manner. You have family and nurses to hold your hand if you are looking to be given warm and fuzzies.
I honestly can't find anything to complain about and if you knew me you would know that this is just short of a miricle.

I first saw Dr. Newhoff on a news story. Dr. Newhoff was demonstrating the physical surgery using his props. The news story covered a husband an wife who had both undergone surgery. I was really amazed at how this procedure positively impacted people's lives. I then attempted to contact the doctor at his office where I learned of his monthly seminar.

My first impression of Dr. Newhoff was a very good one. By the time I attended the seminar, I had done a lot of research. He was very straightforward about everything. He showed those of us attending his seminar diagrams of the procedure and introduced people who had been through the surgery. He then took every question asked.

He seems very confident and collected. People asked a wide variety of questions dealing with complications and other surgery types to which he was very direct with his answers.

I got the impression that he really does want to help people who are morbidly obese.
His former patients were praising his skill and knowledge.

Dr. Newhoff is very serious in telling you to follow his plan closely. There are a lot of other people who have problems and complications, but he and his patients will openly tell you, that if you follow his plan, you will do very well. If you think don't follow his instructions closely, you are destined to run into problems. He will not operate on smokers, period.

I have to say that there is no other doctor that I would want to do this surgery on me. Dr. Newhoff is out of my health network, but I would rather pay the few thousand dollars to know that I am gaining the skill and years of experience of Dr. Alan Newhoff.

Aftercare is very important, but from what I understand, there is no structured program, just support meetings, which seem very good.

As far as the risks of surgery, he was very up front about them, but he was also quick to point out that the patients that follow his instructions do not experience many of the problems that you read about.

Since my last entry, I have moved across the country to NJ. I have met with a few other surgeons for follow up visits and have not found one who can hold a candle to the Dr. Newhoff. It seems that none of the other surgeons that I have met with care as much about their patients or show the respect that Dr. Newhoff does. I have had very unpleasant experiences with these surgeons, despite doing very well. I have lost over 275 pounds in just over a year and 3 months. If you are considering Dr. Newhoff, you are making a very wise choice. All of the other patients of Dr. Newhoff that I have spoken with have done very well. While in the waiting rooms of other surgeons I have heard horror stories from post-op patients of these, supposed top notch surgeons. I didn't even know that many of these complications could arise from this type of surgery.

If you are considering the surgery, don't forget to speak with several post-op patients and read reviews from people who have been through this experience with them. I believe it will pay great dividends. It did for me.

OKAY THIS WAS MY FIRST IMPRESSION:I met with Dr.Newhoff for the first time on tuesday 9.10.02. So far I think he is awesome. He is down to earth and straight forward. Talks to you like a person.
I only met one person in his office Cindy she was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. AS a get further along in the process I will definitely update my experience with him and his office. Passing my test wasnt quite as bad as him making an impression on my mother and husband and they cant say enough good things about him either. Again this was just our first visit I check back in later. Thanks.

NOW THAT I KNOW HIM SOO MUCH BETTER HERE IS AN UPDATE: after my first surgery with him on 11/13/02 I tried to explain to him that something was wrong, he never considered that something had gone wrong with the surgery, he tried to blame me for various reasons, when i went into his office 10 days after surgery I had a 16.5 lb GAIN he said I needed to take my water pills, same appointment I could NOT breath he told me "you need to calm down you are hyperventilating yourself" he then proceeded to yell at my mom and husband "you people need to carry a paper bag with you when you take her out" On Thanksgiving day I almost DIED because he would not listen to me, my lungs had collapsed because of the pressure from the 2 gallons of bile that was in my abdominal cavity from a "leak" that was caused during the surgery.

He thinks he is DR PERFECT he does not remember that every patient is different and you can't treat everyone the same.