Hans Schmidt Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS

Dr. Schmidt is young, skilled, self assured and confident, and has the qualities that are important when selecting a surgeon. He is an extremely busy doctor but I have found he has always addressed my concerns in a timely manner. I had a very positive surgical experience with Dr. Schmidt and can recommend him highly. I found SOME of his office and nursing staff to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and others to be just the opposite (difficult and uncooperative and even nasty at times). Although office staff and support are very important, it is worthwhile to put up with the uncooperative and overworked staff members to have a physician as skilled as Dr. Schmidt. There are several email groups of Dr. Schmidt's patients on Yahoo and OSSG-nyc-metro.org, good places to hear what his other patients have to say about him. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give Dr. Schmidt at 10++ for surgical competence, 10 for bedside manner (he's a little rushed but has a good reason as he has a lot of patients and is very much in demand). His aftercare program is not the greatest but I found enough support through AMOS and other WLS sites. Dr. Schmidt's patients have recently begun a patient-run support group that meets at Hackensack Hospital once a month.

<B><U>8/21/01</U></B> Well, it's over and done. I was THRILLED with Dr. Schmidt and his fellow, Dr. Oliak. They took all the time I needed/wanted to answer questions and discuss the procedure, including why their postop care (more conservative diet) varied from my roommate's (who had an open RNY by another surgeon). I would give them a 12++ on a scale of 1-10. <br><Br>
However, on the mailing list for Dr. Schmidt's patients, I continue to hear of difficulties with his office staff. The only thing I can suggest is that, when you call, ask to speak to Barbara. She has been wonderful at solving what few problems I had (and those were with the hospital, not Dr. Schmidt).<br><br>

<B><U>5/17/01</U></B> It pays to be proactive. I went to get my referral even though my appointment was months away. As soon as I had the referral, I called Dr. Schmidt's office to ask about a cancellation. As luck would have it, they had JUST had a cancellation and were able to see me today. I now have a surgery date for 8/14/01 which was the first available date.<br><br>

I found the office to be small, as others have commented, but the staff was very friendly and courteous. Dr. Schmidt was extremely professional and personable, taking great care to make sure that he explained everything (including all the risks) and that all my questions were answered. I look forward to further interactions.<br><br>

<B><U>5/16/01</U></B> I have an appointment scheduled...am frustrated by the fact that it is going to be 4 months before I can get in to see him but pleased by the courteous and supportive treatment I received from his office staff.<br><br>

Dr. Schmitt saved my life I can't say anything bad at all. The office staff helped me greatly and Barbara was very kind and answered all my questions, even when I was pestering her.

My first impression was that he is young but very nice his staff was very helpful his office is small when I was there. There were only two people in there
He explained everything and was very nice I would rate on a scale from 1 to 10 a 20 he is that good

Excellent surgeon. Great respect for the patient, and takes good care to make you feel at home. After care is equally as good. Too busy sometimes, but he is there for you whenever you need him. Great Team.
Both his competence, and bed side manner are world class.

So far, I have only met the surgeon and his staff one time. Dr. Schmidt was on the younger side and very nice and informative. He wanted to be sure that everything I wanted to know was covered. He seemed to be very confident. The office itself was kind of small and the office staff seemed very overworked and overwhelmed. They deffinately need to get some more space and to hire more help as this surgery is exploding onto the sceen as an invaluable weightloss tool. Also, so few surgeons are willing to do this surgery laprascoply like Dr. Schmidt will.

May 13th, 2001: Well the surgery is over and I am 6 days post-op. I am still in alot of pain and trying to figure out the pain. My surgeron, Dr. Schmidt was a real sweetie. He and his associate did a fantastic job and they both took the extra time to address some surprise complications that I presented to them on the operating table. They followed things through to the very end and made sure nothing was overlooked. They took great care of me and I would reccomend them to any one who is considering this surgery laprascoply. Although I understand the wait for an initial consultation is now up to four months waiting time. They were both very kind and caring.

so far...my consultation is scheduled for May 31th. the receptionist was polite and quite helpful. i even called back with questions and it was very nice to be able to speak with someone. i could have had a consult in five days but chose to have it in a couple of weeks. The one draw back is that they don't have support groups yet, but they are working on setting them up. i will post after i speak to the dr.

- my first impression of dr. schmidt was that i knew that i wanted him to do the surgery.
- over time i grew more and more confident.
- his office staff were helpful and friendly
- he expects his patients to have the responsibility to take care of themselves and follow his aftercare instructions.
- he was very honest and forthcoming with the risks of the surgery.
- i would give him a 12 out of 10. if i had to have this surgery over again i would go back to him without even thinking.
- his technique is fantastic, i have minimal scaring, and his bedside manner is fantastic, he treats you like you are his only patient, completely focused on you and your needs.
- negative points: it can take a while to get an appointment sometimes. sometimes appointments are double booked so be prepared to have a bit of a wait.

***this was my experience with the doctor, others may not have the same experience, i was lucky that other than my weight i was in perfect health so my surgery went better than some others may. this is strictly a personal rating of the doctor!!***

I have met with Dr Schmidt in his office,on
April 9,2001
It was a very small but busy office,I did have to
wait a while for my appointment, but once i was in
there the doctor gave me as much time as I needed
to explain things and answer all my questions.
Doctor Schmidt is a very young, handsome man that
seems VERY knowledgable in what he is doing.
I really liked how POSITIVE he was, made me feel
alot more at ease.
I like him alot !!

I met my surgeon on March 29th. The office was kind of small and the office staff was clearly overwhelmed. Dr. Schmidt was very nice and informative and very encouraging. I am now waiting to have the surgery approved by my insurance company. My tentativ surgery date is June 18th. I can't wait.