Michael Schwartz Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I was very impressed with Dr. Schwartz the first time I met him. The only other times I have seen him were the day of my surgery, right before being taken to surgery and a couple hours after when I was in my room. I've never seen him since! The rest of my hospital stay, Dr. Drew saw me and at all of my post op approintments, I have seen Ryan. The office staff is wonderful, always very pleasant and friendly. As for aftercare, I feel very cheated. Since I live in another state, I can't attend any of the support groups. I drive 2 hours for my appt. with Ryan (who is very pleasant), fill out a questionaire, discuss this with Ryan for approx. 10 min. and then drive 2 hrs. back home. I've never had any blood work done there. At my annual exam, they sent a lab sheet with me to give my pcp to draw blood. I don't know what lab work I should have on a regular basis or anything. I feel very frustrated at times and am now experiencing bounce back weight gain of about 20 lbs. I feel Dr. Schwartz is a very experienced surgeon and would recommend him to others, but I think they need to improve their aftercare for patients that come from out of state and have no support in their home town. I feel that surgical competence AND bedside manner are equally important. This of course has been just my own personal experience and I am not speaking for any other person.

I was very pleased with my surgeon, Dr. Michael Schwartz. He was highly recommended to me and I was not disappointed. He had a wonderful bedside manner and did an excellent job explaining the surgery to me. I would definately recommend him to everyone I know.

I was really impressed by Dr. Scwartz's sincere interest in helping me become a healthier young woman. He was empathetic about some of my other medical conditions that have quickly lead me to this as the right choice for me.

His office staff were helpful and courteous. They seemed more than willing to answer all of my questions.

I did not like their presentation at the information session about weight loss surgery. The presenter did not make any attempt to hide her personal bias against certain types of individuals.

Dr. Schwartz was extremely thorough in explaining all of the risks of the RNY surgery. He also gave me a short list of what he most often sees in his practice. He also told me how much weight he thought that I could lose. He said there is a chance that I could lose more, but the only people that seem to be successful at doing that are the people that follow the dietary and exercise guidelines religiously.

I was impressed at how he stressed the fact that he wants to follow-up with me for the rest of my life. For example he said he wanted to see if my sleep apnea improves or disappears.

I will rate him after surgery.

I believe that a healthy blend of surgical competence and bedside manner are essential especially in a surgery that is as emotionally laden as WLS.

1st impression-Knowledgeable,helpful,godd sense of humor.

Dr. Schwartz seesms to be an excellent doctor. He spent a lot of time answering questions and giving out infomation when we met. The staff seemed very qualified and helpful. He emphasizes aftercare very much. He also told me if I gained even one ounce before surgery he would not do it. I liked that. I look forward to the surgery

I attended the required seminar by Dr. Schwartz's office in December 2003. Prior to that, I had researched several MPLS surgeons & found that Dr. Schwartz was indeed my best choice. Dr. Schwartz's wife, who's an RN, conducted the extremely informative seminar. It took me another 1.5 months to decide that I wanted to proceed with the surgery. I submitted my paperwork to Dr. Schwartz's office & received my insurance approval letter the middle of May 2004.

One of the main reasons I went with Dr. Schwartz was from patient referrals. My first impression of Dr. Schwartz during my consultation one month prior to surgery was one I'll never forget. I was able to bring my parents into the consultation to soothe their nerves about this major operation. Dr. Schwartz was extremely professional & informative. He first gave us the risks of having such a procedure done then moved on to the positives. He reviewed my chart & all of my previous test results & stated that I'm an excellent candidate for the surgery. He then asked if I'm ready to schedule a surgery date & tears welled up in my eyes. The day had finally come!

The literature I took home with me from the initial Dec. 2003 seminar & lit. accumulated since then has been extremely informative. Dr. Schwartz operates at Abbot Northwestern in MPLS, a hospital which requires you to attend a seminar with reps from each dept. you'll see & deal with during your stay in the hospital. This is a new seminar & one I recommend other hospitals to hold. Reps included: pharmacist, nursing floor mgr., recovery rm nurse, nutritionist, Nurse Judy Schwartz, & other operating room nurses. The info they provided me was priceless. I'm not a nervous person & was only nervous about the surgery for 5 min. during this seminar. They explained exactly what would happen from the time I walked in the door to admitting to the time I walked out of the door to be discharged. All details were discussed & it overwhelmed me a bit, HOWEVER, it was much better to know this at that time, then during the morning of admitting & after the surgery. I was tired enough having to get in a walk, breakfast, shower, & visits from various medical personnel. I wouldn't have felt like discussing my post-op diet for 30 min. after the surgery took place.

Both surgical competence & bedside manner were great. Dr. Schwartz told me afterwards that due to my BMI being 56, the lap RNY was a difficult procedure, but he was able to complete it without it becoming an "open" procedure. The entire nursing staff was extremely supportive & very caring.

I can't thank Dr. Schwartz & everyone involved in the procedure enough. They've given me my life back & now it's time to do my part in becoming a "healthier Amy".

From the time of my first meeting with Dr. Scwartz and his staff I knew I was in good hands. Dr. Schwartz made me feel very comfortable from the very beginning. First Dr. that I met that didn't lecture me about my weight. I would recommend Dr. Scwartz to anyone who is serious about WLS. Bedside manners were excellent.

My first impression of Dr. Michael Schwartz was, that he's very well educated, I've been learning about the Gastric Bypass procedure also know as Roux-en -Y or Lap Band for the past 18 months. He did a wonderful job at explaining the procedure went into detail and answered almost every question I had during this time. However he is strict and holds people accountable for their own actions, which I think is very good. This procedure is serious and needs to be taken this way as well.


The office staff at Abbott Northwestern is very professional and very helpful. Weather its by phone or walk in their always happy to hear from you and try to always deliver the best service to their patients both old and new.

Future patients need to remember to follow all the rules to get the best results of this procedure.

Aftercare is extremely important and shouldn't be taken lightly. It's very important to go to all your check ups to make sure nothing has changed as far as your body but also to stay educated and up to date on everything.

Finding a support network besides friends and family is also extremely important. It's very helpful with answering questions that may come up along the way. Also is helpful with accountability and keeping you focused and on track with your goals in mind.

Abbott Does require you to get checked several time your fist year after and then once a year after that. They also have a support group at their site that is called RENEWAL it meets weekly on Tuesday nights from 5:30pm-7pm


All surgery risks were brought up and discussed.

If I had to give a letter grade to rate Michael Schwartz I'd give him an B. His bedside manner isn't always the best. But he tells you the truth and not what you want to hear. And he is very pushy at making sure you achieve all your goals.

Dr Schwartz was nice, overweight himself (ironic?) He was funny the day of the surgery saying he was out all night partying when I asked if he was refreshed and ready for the surgery. He asked that I not gain weight before the surgery or I would have to have open RNY. I lost 20 lbs on the 2 week liquid diet before surgery so I had lap RNY.

Dr. Schwartz is an incredible bariatric surgeon. He spend a huge amount of time with my wife and I and was incredibly frank about the risks and possible outcomes of the surgery. His skills were outstanding, and my surgery was successful. I would highly recommend Dr. Schwartz and his entire staff to anyone and everyone. He's definitely one of the best!!